Broken Threads
by Tensor
Summary: Penny gets her big break, but will this affect Leonard and Penny's relationship? Mostly Lenny, with bits of the others thrown in. This story is written as a prequel to another Leonard and Penny fan fic, with permission of the author. Overall rated M for some chapters with sexual and non-sexual graphic descriptions. Warnings will be posted at the beginning of those chapters.
1. Prologue

**Broken Threads**

 **A/N. I will warn everyone upfront, this will not be my typical story. Starting about half way through, there will be much more angst in this one. This story is based on another fan fic, a story that is well known in the Lenny fandom. I've jokingly called this a fan fic of a fan fic. I've talked to the author of the previous story and sent him the outline for it. After reading the outline, and discussing it with me, he has given me his blessing (and seemed enthusiastic).**

 **If you aren't aware of which story this comes from, don't worry, you don't need to know that story to follow this one. Think of this as a prequel of the other story. My story is about the various actions and events that basically lead to the next story.**

 **This story is based on bits and pieces scattered throughout the original story. What I've done, is taken those scattered bits and pieces, pulled them together, then fill in what happened between those references and also go into those references in more depth. If you've read the original story it will be come very apparent, rather quickly, which story I'm writing the prequel to. If you haven't read it, as I said, don't worry, you don't need to have read it, to enjoy this story.**

 **The Prologue starts late in 2012, which is halfway through season six. While the story proper starts in January 2012, which is halfway through season five. However, there are obviously elements of this story that are AU and some of the events of both season five and six are changed or eliminated. Other elements are still there (Howard going to space, for example). I've compressed the early season 5 timeline a bit, Leonard and Penny get back together about four weeks earlier, after Ornithophobia"(in this story "Recombination" doesn't exist and "Beta Test" is moved to just after "Ornithophobia"**.

 **I want to thank Hokie3457 and TBBT78 for looking over the first drafts of this story, to keep me centered and for giving me some really worthwhile suggestions. And bfm for doing the copy editing (with some suggestions also). Without them, I'm quite sure I would be so far along with this. Well, that's enough of me, here is the story, I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Prologue**

 **December 25, 2012. JFK International Terminal 7**

The man slowly walked along concourse seven, looking for something. He wasn't very tall, dressed in jeans and an open grey hoodie, with black and white sneakers on his feet. His thick, curly brown hair along with his thick black glasses, framed his face. A green shirt, with what appeared to be a triangle on it, was under the hoodie. The strap of his messenger bag was over his left shoulder, the bag laying along his right side.

He noticed a map of the concourse on the opposite wall and walked over to it. He peered at the map, then looked around for a few seconds. Repeating the actions a second time seemed to give him his bearings as he turned and started walking, backtracking toward entrance to the terminal where he came in. After a few seconds he found what he'd been looking for, the entrance to British Airways First Class lounge.

Approaching the entrance, he passed the large ad board near the entrance. It was an ad for _Cinderella_ , a new Broadway show scheduled to open in March. He didn't even bother glancing at the ad, he simply entered the lounge, walked up to the bar, and ordered a Guinness. It was something he had picked up since his decision to apply for the open position at Oxford, figuring if he was going to be living in England, he should drink their beer. Paying for the beer, he took it to the table near the window.

He put his drink on the table, removed his messenger bag, then sat down. He checked his watch, and found he had over four hours before his flight. He sat back and looked out of the window at the runway, and watched the planes taking off and landing. As he had done many times during the last week, he was also thinking, s _hould I call her?_ His immediate response, as it had been all week was, w _hy bother? She hadn't answered in over a month, why would she now?_

 _Maybe she'd been told he was leaving, or maybe, she would wonder why he was calling after four weeks._ _No, that can't be it, she already knows I'm leaving, and she hasn't bothered to call since that last phone call with her. Maybe it was because she didn't know my new phone number and email address. Dammit, none of the old gang know my number or email, but she wasn't even sending something to his old email account._

 _I shouldn't have pushed her. Telling her to go, telling her not to worry, that things would work out. She was willing to stay in Pasadena, why didn't I listen to her? She offered to take me with her, maybe I should have taken a sabbatical and gone with her._ Dammit, _I should have never let her go by herself._

 _No,_ he thought, shaking his head, _there is no reason to call her. Besides, what the hell would I say to her?_ _I guess the main thing is, there is simply nothing left to say. She has a new boyfriend, she's at the beginning of what now looks like a successful career. Besides, she probably doesn't want to talk to me. I'm not part of her life anymore, what right do I have to call her?_

 _She has her new life, and I'm heading to England for my new life. I'm getting away from all the memories, because I couldn't live where all those memories were._

Again, he shook his head, _How did it ever come to this…from that start, what, five years ago_? His mind drifted back _, what was the turning point? What was the reason this turned out to be such a disaster?_

Before she moved in, it had been, in some ways, an idyllic life he had been living.

Leonard Hofstadter had just gotten his PhD and had been offered a post-doc position at the university. He had two friends, he had met within two weeks of arriving at Cal Tech. Dr Rajesh Koothrapolli, an astrophysicist, and Howard Wolowitz, an aerospace engineer, both of whom also worked at the university and had many of the same interests as Leonard. The three of them had become a small, fairly tight knit group of three.

He had found a flyer on the university bulletin board for an apartment in Pasadena, near enough to the university at 2311 N Los Robles Blvd. The current resident, a Dr Sheldon Cooper, also worked at the university and Leonard quickly found out that Sheldon was rather quirky.

The "Die Sheldon, Die" painted on the bedroom wall gave him pause, but the apartment was rather inexpensive. In addition it was the best one he had seen, and he knew several other academics, who were a bit off center, so he took it. It took a while for him to get used to Sheldon, but his other friends helped to soften the rough edges of living with the peculiar physicist.

The three of them soon found that Sheldon, for all his idiosyncrasies, also had most of the same interests as they did, and while it hadn't been easy, Sheldon had become part of their group and eventually, his best friend.

Mostly at Sheldon's insistence, they had set up a schedule that they followed, almost religiously, it gave a nice structure to their lives. The four of them had, for a couple of years, spent most of their free time together.

Their work at the university; board and computer games; comic books; and science fiction books, TV, and movies were things in which they were all interested. They enjoyed building their lives around all of it, giving them what seemed like a perfect life.

But, for three of them, there was always something missing. All but Sheldon wanted some sort of a relationship with a woman, but there were problems. Raj suffered from selective mutism and couldn't talk to women. Howard acted sleazily toward women, always trying to hit on them, which drove them away. Leonard had had a couple of relationships, but neither of them lasted very long, and he wasn't comfortable in trying to start a relationship.

And then SHE moved in across the hall. He would always be able, in his mind, to see her that first time through her door. Although he liked to say he fell in love with her that day, he knew now, at that point it was more a physical attraction, rather than love. But, even there, he had been attracted to those other women before, but both had taken some time. The attraction to her had been immediate and overwhelming.

Her name was Penny, and she had just broken up with her previous boyfriend. She worked as a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory, and was trying to become an actress. She was very outgoing, friendly and was socially so much more adept than any of the guys were.

For that first year, all he did was pine after her. If she needed something, he was there to help her get it. There were fumbling attempts at asking her out, but nothing really serious. Then, after a particularly bad breakup of hers, he had managed to gather enough courage to ask her out. To his astonishment, she agreed to go out with him.

While the date went well, they each had insecurities which prevented a second. While they remained friends, they went on to date others. Penny dated several different guys, and Leonard had a brief relationship with a medical doctor. That changed when the owner of the comic book store went on a date with her. His friend was very similar to Leonard, and it puzzled him as to why she would go out with his friend.

His friend had explained to Leonard that after their second date, they had started kissing and were making out in his car, when Penny had called out Leonard's name. Leonard was very happy upon hearing this. However, any kind of relationship was put on hold when he left with his other three friends to the arctic, where they would be doing experiments. Before he left, she bought him a blue blanket, with sleeves.

Upon returning, she immediately made her feelings known. He had given her a snowflake preserved in acrylic, which she treasured. They started a relationship that lasted for nine months. Then Leonard told her he loved her, a mistake he regretted almost instantly, as she either wasn't ready or couldn't say it back, resulting in her breaking up with him. After some awkwardness, they had managed to stay friends. And, while they both still had feelings for each other, they kept quiet about it and went back to dating other people.

While Penny had scattered dates, Leonard had a serious relationship with Raj's sister, Priya. Penny kept quiet about her feelings, regretting not saying anything to him, before Leonard and Pryia started their relationship. The other members of the group knew if Penny had wanted, she could have broken Priya and Leonard up, just by telling Leonard she wanted to start dating again.

But Penny didn't want to do that, and tried to keep her feelings for Leonard to herself. While she kept them from Leonard, her friends caught glimpses of her true feelings. Hiding those feelings made her despondent, which led to her to begin to drink, sometimes heavily. One night, after finding out Leonard had moved in with Pryia, she drank to the point of blacking out and woke up the next morning in Leonard's bed, with Raj. That same night Leonard found out Priya was leaving to go back to India and left to spend the night in 4A. This led to Leonard being there the next morning, when Penny and Raj came out to the living room together. Leonard was crushed by this and tried to keep the relationship with Priya going long distance.

While still with Priya, Leonard met a woman and they spent some time at Leonard's apartment making out. Later, Leonard went over to her house to have sex. But he felt guilty and couldn't do it, so he returned home and called Priya to confess. It was then that he found out Priya had begun seeing her previous boyfriend, and had actually had sex with him. This lead to his breaking up with Priya in early October.

Upon hearing this, Penny took a chance and told Leonard the real reason she broke up with him. She didn't want to lead him on, because she wasn't sure she could ever say she loved him. She also told him about how her feelings for him had never gone away. How the last year had been very difficult for her, especially seeing him date Priya. She finally told Leonard the whole story of what had happened that night with Raj. Leonard, although relieved to hear all of this, was a bit hesitant to get back together with her.

A couple of weeks later, Penny had asked Leonard to go to the movies as friends. They spent the night trying to make the other jealous by talking with other people. Luckily, after getting home they talked about it, and as they talked they both realized they wanted to try again, but didn't want to have the relationship fail, as it had previously.

So they discussed some ideas to get their relationship to work. They talked about taking it slow, try to work on their relationship. They even came up with a name for it, they called it a beta test. If one of them thought there was some sort of problem, they would "report" the problem and then talk about it, trying to come to a solution. Taking it slow would also keep them from rushing into sex as they had the first time.

Things went very well, and they quickly started working out problems which had derailed their previous attempt at a relationship. By December, their resolution to keep from having sex had broken down, and they added that additional physical component to their relationship. Fortunately, their work at correcting their problems was well along, and the addition of sex seemed very natural.

It was going so well, that around Christmas Leonard started thinking about them getting married, and a few years after possibly starting a family with her. But, he hesitated saying anything because he knew of Penny's problems with committing. So he kept quiet and bided his time.

Then, in January, Penny got an audition for a new sit-com…

 _That's where everything changed_ , thought Leonard. _That was the point that led to me being here today…_

 **A/N**

 **I debated waiting to publish this until I was completely finished. I hate having a story hanging. Then I thought, I plan on finishing this, so if there are places where there is a period of time before publishing the next chapter, that was OK. In the end, I decided on a combination approach. I currently have 20 chapters** **written (well 19 and this prologue. For those counting, that's 50k words in not quite three months), so if something delays me writing, I still have enough written to publish every Monday for about four and a half months. If it comes down to it, I can publish every two weeks, instead of once a week, until I catch up.**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N This note will be much shorter. First off, it was bfm10 who is my copy reader. Evidently, there is a bfm here, so they had to change their normal user name. And, due to a autocorrect My comment should have read, "…without them, I would not be as far along as I am." This is in reference to the help Hokie3457, TBBT78, bfm10 have provided me in my writing.**

 **BTW, as you can see, update on Monday could be update Sunday night.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Apt 4A, Pasadena, 5:30 PM, Friday 06 January, 2012**

Leonard Hofstadter, PhD flipped though his papers, looking at the equations. There had to be a way to combine the two. He wanted to have this done before the spring semester started, but was finding he was running into one of the familiar problems of General Relativity and Quantum Field Theory. Their incompatible at small enough distances or high enough energies.

Maybe Sheldon would see a way. Then Leonard thought about last time he asked Sheldon for help, he hadn't heard the end of that until Sheldon had moved on to complaining about Penny again. Besides, Sheldon was working on String Theory, not the Standard Model. Maybe he should ask Leslie or maybe Kripke…

Suddenly the door flew open, with Penny almost running to him. "Leonard! Leonard! Leonard!" she said excitedly, "I got an audition…Tuesday…next week… **major** part…" She stopped, trying to take a breath.

Leonard grinned at her, "Slow down Penny, come on over to the couch," He gently guided her, "You want a glass of wine?"

Penny nodded, and Leonard went to the kitchen, opened a bottle, grabbed two glasses and took them to the couch. He poured two glasses, put the bottle on the coffee table, and handed one glass to Penny. "Now," he said, "tell me all about it, slowly."

Penny took a drink, then looking at Leonard with a big smile, started speaking, "It's so great Leonard. I have an audition for a series pilot. It's a brand new show."

"When is the audition?" asked Leonard.

"It's next Tuesday," said Penny. "Then, if I do well, there will be callbacks. After that, for those who get to move on, there will be meetings with the producers, meetings with the network execs, then the final decision. I'll find out by the end of this month if I got the part."

"They are supposed to shoot the pilot in the middle of February, then show it around to the networks. If I get the part, I should hear sometime, in March, about whether the network likes it and puts it on the fall schedule. If so, we start shooting the shows in August and I'll be on your TV in September."

Without thinking, Leonard said, "That's if you get the part."

Penny looked at him, her eyes flashing, "Yes, IF I get the part. Thanks for the confidence in me."

"You…you…know what I mean," Leonard stammered defensively. "I think you can get the part, but there still is a chance you won't." He leaned over and kissed her. "What's the show about?"

She smiled, "I don't know. I don't even have the lines we're going to use for the audition, and I don't know who is supposed to be in it. I'll find out most of that next week, so ask me then. What are we doing for dinner?"

"Not sure," said Leonard. "I haven't seen Sheldon, so why don't we just head for that new Italian restaurant over on East Colorado?"

"Sounds good to me," said Penny. She looked at all the symbols scattered throughout, all his papers, "Whatcha doing?"

"I'm trying to see if I can get these two equations to combine," he said, pointing to both of them. "It's driving me, crazy. Grrrrrrrr," he said making fists in with both hands. He took a deep breath, "I'm trying to work on some problems in Quantum Field Theory, in highly curved spacetime, but that requires General Relativity and the tensors don't match…"

"Blah, blah, blah," said Penny playfully, "physics stuff, blah, blah, blah. You know I don't understand that stuff Leonard. You could have just said some physics and it would have satisfied me."

Leonard looked disappointed, but chuckled, "Sometimes I forget, Penny. I want to explain this, but I get all excited and forget you aren't a physicist."

She reached over, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Maybe not, but I do understand how to relieve that tension you have. How about we head over to my apartment, so we're not interrupted if Sheldon comes back, and I can help you 'relax' a bit before dinner."

"I thought we were staying at your place tonight," said Leonard. "You said we were going to…er… 'relax' when we went to bed."

"Why can't we 'relax' now, and then later tonight?" said Penny with a wolfish grin.

Before Leonard could answer, Penny's lips landed on his, making her question rhetorical. After a few seconds, Penny stood, and grabbing Leonard's hand, led him over to 4B.

 **Apr 4A, 6:00 PM, Tuesday, January 10th, 2012**

Leonard was working on the equations. He had given up trying to get them to combine, and now was working on how to design a test for his ideas, but was still struggling. _First I have to figure out those equations, then I need a lot more power,_ he thought. _I might have to see if I could get time at CERN, with the Large Hadron Collider._ _That's not likely, so I'd have to see about maybe getting the petawatt laser._ He sighed and went back to his papers. _Or, just see if I can tease out the answers using a few more calculations and a lower power laser._

The door flew open, Penny ran right to him and enveloped him in a hug. Leonard was taken by surprise, but returned it. They held on to each other for a half a minute and Penny finally pulled away. She had a big grin on her face, Leonard just looked at her and said, "What's up?"

"Oh, Leonard," said Penny, "I got a callback! They want me to read with the actual stars of the show. We'll be doing several scenes together. Oh, Leonard, this is what I've been waiting for, I could be on TV!" She wrapped him in another hug.

After breaking the hug, Leonard smiled at her excitement. "Really, this is so great for you. So, who are the stars?"

"Jeanie Corbett," said Penny.

Leonard had no idea who this was, and it must have shown in his face.

"You know," said Penny, "she was in 'Sex in the City', as Carrie's boss, who kept hounding her to do that article."

Leonard thought back. He only had a very limited knowledge of 'Sex in the City' but he did have a vague idea of who she was and so simply said, "I guess."

"She was also in the movie we watched on HBO a couple of weeks ago," said Penny. "You know, Patty, the woman who kept chasing beach bum type guys, until she realized her shy neighbor was the one that helped her all the time. You said she reminded you of me."

"Oh yeah," said Leonard nodding his head, "ignoring the good guy for all the bad guys."

Penny scowled at him. "Some of them were nice."

"Sure," said Leonard, "like the one that kept hitting on the waitress, in front of Patty? You know, like Kurt. Or that one that was bragging to his friends, about their sex life, you know, like Mike?"

"Shut up," said Penny, looking down. "Anyway, now you know who she is. The other star is Dave Collura. He was the head of that government section in that superhero movie we saw last month."

Leonard instantly knew who this was and smiled, "I get to meet Capt. Avery?"

"No, Leonard," said Penny, "you don't, not yet anyway. If I get the part, you will probably meet him."

Leonard was still smiling, "Well, OK, that seems fair. What else do you know?"

"Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the show itself is supposed to be about something in New York. But they are saying it will be shot here, on sets, and just use exterior shots, and shots on the back lot."

"What are exterior shots?" Asked Leonard.

"Those are where they send a camera crew out in New York, and take some video of places around the city. They probably already have a bunch of those clips in their film library, so it won't cost them all that much. If they have to have one they don't have, they send one of the New York camera units out to get the clips they need."

"So, what is the show about?"

"I don't know yet," said Penny. "I was just given where it was going to be shot, where it was based and told us who the two stars were going to be. They said they would send us the scripts by the end of the week, then we'll read against the two stars and against the other guy."

"How many other women are in line for the role?" Asked Leonard.

"There were four of us that were told today that we would be coming back," said Penny. "So my guess would be four." She smiled at Leonard.

"But, you don't know what the show is about?"

"Nope, but I may know by the end of the week."

Leonard chuckled, "Well then, I guess I can get back to work, now, without worrying about interfering with your audition," said Leonard.

Penny stuck her tongue out at Leonard. "It's a callback. What about dinner?"

"Let's see, Sheldon is going somewhere with Amy tonight, so where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "You go back to work, I'll think about it while I get a shower, give me an hour or so."

"That sounds good," said Leonard with a smile, "see you then."

"OK," said Penny, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you in an hour." Penny walked to the door and left.

 **Apt 4A, 7:00 PM, Friday 13 January 2012**

The whole gang was there for Friday night dinner. Howard seated on an end table near the door, Bernadette on the couch next to him. Amy was in the center of the couch, with Sheldon next to her in his "spot". Leonard was in his chair, Penny was sitting next to him in his desk chair, with Raj on the floor, near Howard. Penny had just told everyone about her audition Tuesday and explained all she said she knew about the show.

"Well, Penny, what is the show about?" asked Bernadette.

"I don't know."

"Is it a big part?" asked Amy.

"I don't know."

Sheldon chimed in, "Penny, you must know. You said you have the script, hence you have all the information there, so you must know…"

"OK," said Penny. "Let me go through this for you again. I told you there are two stars, I know who they are. I know the show is set in New York. The auditions, I think, are for the secondary stars. There are four women up for the role I'm up for. I don't have the entire script, just the little pieces I need for my part. I do know some things about the show, but, and this may help you understand, I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Asked Raj.

"I had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement," said Penny. "This is a project that is in development. There was a press release with some of the stuff in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter a month or so ago, and the creators shut down anything else, as they don't want to let anything else out."

"Come on, Bestie, you can tell us," Amy pleaded, "we won't say anything."

"No," said Penny sharply. "This is a big chance for me and I'm not risking it by violating the NDA. They told us if something gets leaked, and they find out who did it, that person is out. They won't get the part or if they have it, they will get fired. So, I've told you what I can." You'll just have to wait until I find out some more. So leave it, got it?"

Amy just nodded her head. Bernadette spoke up, "Can you tell us if it's a big part or a small part?"

"Well," thought Penny, "Variety says it's a four person main cast. So, if that's right, I would think a pretty big part. I know there are two stars, and I guess I would be a co-star, which means I could be on every week. But, see, that's something I don't know.

"So, I guess we just have to wait," said Howard.

"Yep," said Penny. Seeing their downcast faces, she added, "You know how gabby I am, so you know this is killing me. I'm really sorry guys, but this may be my big break, my chance at having a good career, instead of just commercials, shows above a bowling alley, or shows in acting classes. I don't want to mess that up, but I will say I may be able to tell you more, after the call back next week."

"All right," said Sheldon. "New topic, why are we talking about Penny's failed acting career? Instead of taking about the new paper I put out?"

Penny looked at Sheldon in frustration, "How about this new topic Sheldon. When will Sheldon realize I can use the same technique on him that I used on Todd Zarneki, to get his silly game stuff back? Just like his sister Missy taught me."

Sheldon crossed his legs, and said, "Perhaps we can talk about something else." Everyone else laughed and started talking with each other

Leonard leaned over and whispered, "You told me about some things, doesn't that violate the NDA?"

Penny smiled at Leonard and whispered back, "No, telling you is safer than them telling me."

Leonard smiled and nodded.

 **Apt 4A, 5 PM Tuesday, January 17, 2012**

Leonard had taken the afternoon off. He really wanted to be home when Penny returned from her callback. He really didn't see the difference, but Penny made sure he knew it was a callback, not another audition. _I guess I better learn the vernacular of show business._

He had last heard from Penny at around three. She had texted him several times throughout the day. Her first texts was just before 11:00 and she explained how they were now on a ten minute break and she would be going first, after the break. That the stars had talked to them and tried to calm them down.

He got a couple of texts at 1:30 PM, telling him she only had a few minutes, as they were going to have lunch and after lunch, she was going to have to meet some people.

At 2:00, she texted him that lunch was almost over and she was going in to talk with the producers, and if she passed that, she would go on to talk to the network people.

At 3, he got the last text from Penny, telling him she was done with the producers and was just waiting for everyone else to get done. She signed her last text with a xoxoxo.

While waiting, Leonard had been looking up some physics papers online at ArXiv, trying to get a better idea for his experiments, when he found two from Oxford. Looking at them, he understood that they weren't applicable to his current problems. But, after a bit more reading, he realized they could be used as a basis for a whole different experiment, one he might be able to use for his problems.

He sent an email to the main author of the paper, a Dr Geoff Whatney asking if he had thought about making modifications to the experiments, altering what the experiments could possibly be detecting. He also asked about whether or not Dr Whatney had thought about the possibility of reflections off of individual particles.

After hitting send, he decided he needed some tea, so he went to the kitchen, prepared some, and brought it to his desk. He had just started looking over the papers again, when he heard Penny's door close.

Surprised, because she hadn't texted him she was done or had come to 4A, he walked over to Penny's and opened the door. Penny was sitting on her couch, looking at the TV, although it wasn't on. Leonard entered, closed the door and walked over to the couch and sat down next to Penny. She didn't move.

Leonard reached over and touched her arm, "Penny, is there anything wrong?"

Penny turned her head and looked at Leonard with a blank stare. She shook her head.

"Do you want some wine?" he asked.

She nodded and Leonard got up, went to the fridge, grabbed an open bottle and poured two glasses. He brought them back to the couch, giving Penny one. She drained the glass in one drink, then put the glass on the coffee table.

Leonard looked sadly at Penny and put his arm around her, "I'm sorry, I guess you didn't get the part."

Penny turned to look at Leonard, still with a blank look. In what Leonard thought was a shocked voice she said, "No, Leonard, I got the part. If it gets picked up, I'm going to be on television in a weekly series in the fall."


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N Surprise. I know this isn't Monday, but I'll be modifying my plan to publish. I originally planned to publish every Monday. Well, I'm writing a bit faster than I anticipated, about three chapters every two weeks. When I published the Prologue, I had 17 chapters in first draft, and so was 17 chapters ahead of what I had published. I'm getting close to finishing the first draft of chapter 23, so I'm going to be 21 chapters (in first draft) ahead of what's been published. Four more than when I started. So, I decided to start publishing the next chapter, whenever I get a first draft of another chapter done. If something happens, and I don't quite finish a chapter, I'll still publish a week after the last published chapter. I won't let you go more than a week.**

 **Chapter 2**

 **6 PM, Tuesday, January 17, 2012**

"What?" Said Leonard looking shocked. "I thought you weren't going to find out for another couple of weeks. This is great news, right?"

Penny managed a weak smile, "Yes, it is, I finally got a part."

Leonard looked at Penny with concern and puzzlement. "Penny, I don't understand. Why aren't you jumping around the apartment, screaming with joy?"

"It's just been a long day," said Penny. "I'm tired, I'm emotionally exhausted, I'm hungry, and I'm kinda overwhelmed by it all. I've been struggling for so long, it just doesn't seem real yet. It's not registering I'm going to be a regular on a television show."

"Well, how about this," said Leonard, "I'll order pizza, I'll pour some more wine and we'll eat. Then, you can put your feet up, I'll massage them, and you can tell me all about it."

Penny smiled at him, "That sounds good, but let me get a shower first. I should be out when the pizza gets here."

Leonard nodded and pulled out his phone, while Penny headed to get her shower. Thirty minutes later, they were sitting at the table eating.

"So," said Leonard, "tell me all about it and start at the beginning. All I have to go on is your texts."

"Well," said Penny. "I got there just before ten, and there was another woman just getting there. We went in, and the other two women were already there, so the four of us waited for a few minutes. An assistant called us all into the main room and the casting director talked to us, telling us what the line reading part of the day was going to be like."

"At 10:15, the producers came in, along with Jeanie and Dave. First the producers talked to us, telling us what the different parts of the rest of the day was going to be like. Then Jeanie and Dave talked about themselves for a bit, then they talked to us. We asked them questions, they asked us questions. It must have been obvious the four of us were nervous. Jeanie and Dave told us about their first big auditions, and tried to calm us down. After that, we had a 10 minute break, that's when I sent you the first text. During the break the assistant told me I was going to read first. I froze for a second, then mumbled something. I won't lie, I was nervous. At eleven, I went in to read. First I read with Jeanie, then I read with Dave."

"I'm so glad I memorized those lines," said Penny.

"Why?" asked Leonard.

"I'll get to the main reason later," said Penny. "But, think of it, for reading against Jeanie as I didn't have to have the script in my hand when I read. I could use my hands. Like, for when I looked down and shook my head, I put my face in my hand."

"They kept asking me to try different things, they asked Jeanie to try different things. Jeanie and I hit if off as soon as we were together. We were making each other laugh and giggle before we started, and in between doing our scenes. We were like long lost friends. I was in there for about 45 minutes, then they had me leave. I did read more with Jeanie, than with Dave, but I now know why, and I'll tell you in a bit."

"They took me to another room and I read against two men. I think one of those two will get the other male role. After about a half an hour, they sent me to the main room. One of the other women went in to read against the two guys."

"About a half an hour later, she came out and we both got some coffee and talked about how things went. I kinda expected to see another woman after a half hour, but that didn't happen. It was about 45 minutes when an assistant came in with the third woman, and told us we were going to have lunch. Which we figured, as craft services had started setting things up for lunch in the main room."

"What's craft services?"

"That's catering," said Penny, "they provide food on set. Me and the other two women had gotten our food and we were sitting together, when the assistant came over. One of the other women asked what happened to the fourth woman, and the assistant told us, she hadn't memorized her lines and the producers didn't want to waste time on someone who didn't want to put the effort in, so she was simply told, 'sorry, we can't use you.' Now you know the main reason why I'm glad I memorized my lines."

Leonard looked surprised, "Wow, that sounds harsh."

"It does," said Penny, "but they sent us the 'sides', those are parts of the script. While it isn't a requirement to memorize them, if they send them to you, it's implied that you should memorize them. It indicates you're willing to do the extra work, that might be needed, to do the show. These people are working with a series that could bring them millions of dollars, so they have to have someone who is willing to work at this."

While we were eating, the producers and the casting director, walked in, grabbed a couple of things each, to eat, then went over in a corner and were talking softly. We were dying to know what they were talking about."

"After lunch, the casting director talked to us for about ten minutes, telling us what to expect when the producers and executives talk to us. Basically, she said, it was to get to know us a bit better. Then the producers called us into a room and talked to us individually. I went first and they talked to me for about 25 minutes."

"What did you talk to them about?" Asked Leonard.

"They asked me about where I was from, what I had done. They also asked me what I was doing as far as working in between acting jobs. They asked if I was seeing anyone, just kinda small talk, I think it was, just like they told us, to get to know me. One thing they seemed impressed with were my friends."

"Huh?"

"They asked if I was married or single, so I was telling them about you and then I had to explain about the others," said Penny. "Where you all worked and how five of you had PhDs. They were impressed, but also thought it was kinda funny. They told me they liked my facial expressions, how it brought a lot of character to the role. They also said they loved how me and Jeanie got along. They were also surprised at how few things I've done."

"Finally, they said it was time to talk to the next woman, so I got up to leave. They said their assistant would take me to talk to the CBS executives. She was waiting outside the room and led me to another room and I was introduced to three people from CBS. I guess CBS is interested in this show. One of them was the head of casting."

"Who's he?" Asked Leonard.

"Who's she," said Penny, correcting him. "She's the one that has to sign off on anyone who is a star or costar in any series on CBS. There were two other people there, but I didn't recognize them. The guy was the head of development, the other was another woman, and she was head of programming."

"They asked pretty much the same questions. They complimented me on how I read. They told me they like my chemistry with Jeanie. I didn't understand that as I didn't see them in the room, and told them that. They said the big mirrors in the room allowed them to see into us reading. According to them, they did it that way, so we wouldn't get nervous about them being in the room. I guess I was in there for about 20 minutes. Then I left and the next girl went in as I was leaving. She was only in there for like 10 minutes, and I never saw the third girl again."

"We waited by ourselves for a few minutes asking each other how we thought it went, then Jim, Kelli and Sam went into the room with the executives, along with the casting director…"

"Wait a minute," said Leonard, "who are Jim, Kelli and Sam?"

"Oh, sorry," said Penny, "Jim and Kelli are the creators and executive producers, they are also married, their last name is Waldman. Not to mention, they are one of the top comedy producers on TV. Their production company is producing the show. Sam Abelli is going to be head writer."

"Oh, OK," said Leonard, nodding his head, "I can understand that."

"Anyway," said Penny, "They went in, and after 10-15 minutes they came out, and took me into a room, and the other woman off to a different room. Jeanie was there and I read against her again for about 20 minutes. We were still goofing around in between line reads, although I was thinking about the mirrors this time. Again, they kept changing things they wanted me and her to do. Finally they said thanks, and the assistant took me to the other room left me there, and took the other woman out, probably to read again with Jeanie, but I really don't know. About fifteen minutes later the casting director came and took me to the room where the CBS executives were."

"We walked in and I almost passed out. It wasn't just the three people from the network, but Jim, Kelli, Sam, the casting director, and the assistant were all there behind a couple of tables. They had me sit down, which was good as I was so nervous, I was afraid I would just fall over. Kelli talked to me about the show and where the idea came from. Turns out a lot of it will be Kelli's experiences in New York. When she first got there, she was trying to become a television writer, and shared her apartment with an actress. She also went over some ideas for where they wanted to take the show. The executive for programming was talking about how they're ready to approve it, they just want to see the pilot."

"I asked if they were still planning on shooting the pilot in March, and they said no, they want to shoot it in early to middle February. 'That means you have to hurry to get everything set up,' I said."

"They were all looking around at each other, some were chuckling. I asked if I had said something wrong. Kelli was looking at me with a smile on her face. 'No,' she said, 'you are right, we need to do this faster, that's why we're offering you the part of Jessica today.' Then she told me congratulations."

"I had to have looked like an idiot," said Penny. "Probably had my mouth hanging open. I was just in shock. Then the executives got up, came over and shook my hand, said congratulations, and left. Then the casting director said congratulations, and left, as did Sam. That left Kelli and Jim, and the assistant. They both were grinning and congratulated me. They talked to me about setting up a meeting next week, asked me to bring my agent, and were planning on going over a lot of things next week. Then they left, leaving me with the assistant, who set up the meeting. It's Tuesday, but I couldn't tell you when, I'll have to look at the paperwork they gave me."

"Wow," said Leonard smiling and sounding proud, "so you finally got a part on a TV show."

"Not yet," said Penny, "what I've got is a part in a pilot."

Leonard nodded, "How about we clear off the table and move to the couch?"

Penny nodded, and she put the extra pizza in the fridge, put the box in the trash, while Leonard did the dishes and Penny moved their drinks over to the couch. They sat down on one end of the couch, while Leonard sat near the middle. Penny put her feet up and Leonard started rubbing them. Leonard looked up and saw Penny grinning.

He said, "Starting to sink in, is it?"

She broke into a big smile, "Yeah," said Penny, "it is. I'm going to be on TV. Well, if they like the pilot."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the executives have to watch it, the development people, the programming people. Then they'll run it by several test audiences. After that, they may make some tweaks or they may just recast parts. Like if they don't like the way Jeanie and I interact, they could replace me."

"Why you," said Leonard, "and not her?"

"Leonard," said Penny, "She's the star, she will pull in viewers. I'm a nobody, and they'll replace me far quicker than replacing her. In a way, this is her show. She's playing a version of Kelli, and I got the impression Kelli had her in mind for this show. They wrote the show, added the other characters, all of that, for her."

"OK, OK," said Leonard, "so, tell me about her show, and how you and your character, fit into it."

Penny was still grinning, "OK, well, the show is going to be called 'Tales of the City' or 'Major Tales'…

"That sounds strange," said Leonard. "Why would they call it that?"

"Leonard, I was going to get to that," said Penny rolling her eyes. "Save your question until the end."

Leonard nodded, then Penny continued, "It's called either of those because the main character is Allison Major. She's called Ally and Jeanie Corbette is playing her. Her boyfriend is William Roberts, he's played by Dave Collura. I play Jessica Rogers, but most of the time I'm called Jess. I'm Ally's roommate and best friend. There is another guy, who will be playing William Roberts best friend, the character's name is George 'Hunk' Burns. I don't know who will be playing that role yet."

Upon hearing that, Leonard frowned, "Hunk? So, like some sexy guy, who's built like Kurt?"

"I don't know Leonard," said Penny. "Probably not built like Kurt, not many actors are built like that, but he could be good looking. But, you know you don't have to worry."

Leonard didn't look happy.

Penny ignored the look and continued, "Remember this is about Kelli's experiences. Ally is a struggling writer and I'm a struggling actress in New York. Ally has gotten several credits for writing, I've gotten several small acting parts. Meanwhile, I'm a waitress…"

Leonard started laughing.

"I thought it was funny too, but it was something they mentioned after I told them I was working as a waitress. Ally works for a writer, doing his copy editing, or giving suggestions, when she isn't working on her own screenplays. Bill works for an ad company as a graphic artist, and his friend George is…is…something, I can't remember. It's basically the story of four friends in New York trying to make it and all the funny situations they get into. And, remember, this is partially based on Kelli's life."

"What studio will you be working at?"

"I think Warner Brothers," said Penny. "They are the ones that do most of the multi-cam comedies."

"Multi-cam?"

"Yeah," said Penny. "There are four cameras used, and in most cases, multi-cams have a studio audience, so it's like a play that is filmed. There is another kind called single cam. Those are shot like a movie. because there was no audience, single cams used to use laugh tracks, but they've gotten away from that in recent years"

In Multi-cam, the show is run in order, and all the cameras are taking video at the same time. One camera on one person, and another on the other person, one for an overall shot, and a third if they need it. This allows them to do the shot in one take, and the editor switches between the camera video when he edits it.

In a single cam, the scenes can be shot in any order. If there is a conversation, they shoot one person as the conversation happens, then they stop, move the camera and shoot the other person during the conversation. So, they have to do it twice, instead of once, and there is usually a third clip of a longer shot, that may have both of the people in it. Then the editor puts everything together, from all the short clips.

"You said something about knowing why they had you read more with Jeanie than Dave," said Leonard, "why was that?"

"Oh…well," said Penny, "I'll be her roommate, so we'll have a lot of scenes together. They wanted to make sure that we got along, that we had some chemistry. So, it made sense for us to read together more. I probably won't have all that many scenes with just me and Dave, so it wasn't as important. I don't know who the other guy is, or what our relationship will be, so I really don't know how much we'll be together."

"OK," said Leonard nodding his head, "Anything else?"

"Not right now," said Penny. "Oh, wait, Kelli said at some point I will meet her friend, the one my character is based on. Mostly, though, I have to wait until next week. I'll call my agent tomorrow." Penny was chuckling, "Boy, will she be surprised. We'll get together to talk about contracts, how much I should get paid, all that. I will have to join the Screen Actors Guild."

"Is that a big deal?"

"For something like this, it's a requirement," said Penny. "Remember my hemorrhoid commercial? Well, I had a chance to join then, but I didn't. I would have had to pay the $3000 initiation fee, and I just didn't have it. Not to mention, I would have only been able to do SAG jobs, and until I have one of those jobs, there wasn't any sense in joining."

"But working as a regular, on a weekly series, requires you to be a member. So, whatever I get they'll take out taxes, my agent's fee, SAG dues," Penny chuckled, "I may not have any more than I would get at The Cheesecake Factory. But I will have health care, and dental, and eye, and I'll start qualifying for their retirement plan. All stuff I don't have now. I should also be able to afford another car. My deathtrap should have been replaced before I got it."

Penny looked at Leonard with a wicked grin, "I could even find a bigger apartment for myself, somewhere else, with an elevator that works."

Leonard started, and looked at Penny with a curious look on his face.

Penny just laughed and said, "Just kidding."

"You scared me there for a minute," said Leonard.

"I know, that was what I was going for," said Penny grinning. "I really can't afford it yet. Think of it this way, what happens if the show gets cancelled, or they replace me?"

Leonard's face showed understanding "Oh, I got it. Yeah, waiting to see if you get to actually be on television, before you spend all the extra money you may not get, is probably a good idea."

"Yes, it is Leonard," said Penny. "And now, you can't say anything to our friends. I shouldn't have told you, but like I said, telling you is safer than them telling me. Besides, you know how I am about gossip, and not saying anything is tough. You I can tell, and I can't think of anything else I know."

"That's OK," said Leonard, "I think I know enough for now. So what do we do for the rest of the night?"

"Well, we can watch a movie. After that…" Penny leaned over and gave Leonard a deep, long kiss. "Anything come to mind?"

Leonard raised one of his bushy eyebrows, nodded and said, "We could always do that first."


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N I know I got a bit technical in the previous chapter, I do here and will in some upcoming chapters. For those who have read my stories before, you know that's how I write. Also, I'm doing it here, at the beginning, so in future chapters, I don't have to stop, and explain something. And, yes, I finished the first draft of another chapter (23 if you must know) so I'm putting up the next chapter, here you go.**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Apt 4A, 7 PM, Friday, January 20, 2012**

Leonard wasn't sure how, but Penny had managed not to say anything yet about how her callback had gone. Everyone was over, and they had just finished the usual Friday night dinner: Pizza, Salads, and Spaghetti for those so inclined. All were talking about their weeks, when Penny looked at Leonard and smiled. Leonard nodded and Penny cleared her throat.

"Hey, everyone," said Penny, "I have an announcement."

"You and Leonard are engaged," said Bernadette sarcastically.

"Bernadette, sweety, shut up," said Penny, smiling at Leonard.

"You are finally going to admit your limitations and return to Nebraska, to tip cows," said Sheldon.

"Sheldon, sweety, shut up," said Penny with a scowl.

"What is it bestie?" said Amy.

"Well," started Penny, "Sheldon, you're wrong."

"Penny," Sheldon started in a condescending tone, "you know you have limitations as…"

"You know that callback I had on Tuesday?" They all nodded. "I got the part." Amy and Bernadette jumped up, squealing, and ran to grinning Penny to hug her. "So, you see Sheldon, I don't have those limitations you spoke of."

"Well," said Sheldon, "you're still ending your sentences with a preposition. So you obviously…

Be quiet, Sheldon," hissed Amy.

Howard and Raj offered their congratulations, all of them had big smiles on their faces.

"Please, tell us all about it, Penny," pleaded Bernadette.

"OK, sit back down and I'll tell you everything I can." Penny paused for a few seconds, "The part is for a pilot for a new TV comedy. I have a meeting on Tuesday, to talk about contracts and shooting schedules, all of that. If the show gets picked up and they keep me around, it'll be on this fall."

"So when will you know?" Asked Howard.

"Like I said, I have a meeting on Tuesday," said Penny. "I'll know more then. As for knowing when or if it gets picked up, probably not until March or April. So, I don't know, or can't tell you anything else, for now. I'm asking everyone back for Tuesday night, as I'll know more. We can order our usual Friday stuff."

"But, that will interfere with our schedule," said Sheldon. "Tuesday is the day we go to The Cheesecake Factory."

"I'll tell you what Sheldon," said Penny. "Anyone who wants to know about my part and my possibly being on a TV show, can come over Tuesday for pizza and other Italian food. Anyone who doesn't care about my part and TV show can go to the Cheesecake Factory. Those who come here on Tuesday, can go to The Cheesecake Factory on Friday."

"Well, that seems fair," said Sheldon. "Howard, Bernadette, can I count on you being at the Cheesecake Factory on Tuesday?"

"No, Sheldon, I want to hear what Penny says," said Bernadette.

"Howard?"

"Oh, gee," said Howard, "let me think. Do I go with Sheldon and listen to him blathering, or do I get Bernadette angry? Hmmmmmmm, Sorry Sheldon."

"Fine, Raj will come with me, won't you?" said Sheldon.

"No, Sheldon, I want to hear what Penny says also."

"Who needs any of you, I have Amy," said Sheldon.

"Actually Sheldon, I too, want to hear what Penny has to say."

"Amy?" said Sheldon, sounding hurt, "You are my Girlfriend, how can you not want to come with me?"

"She's my bestie," said Amy shrugging.

"Well, if you all want to throw off the schedule, than I suppose we're all eating here on Tuesday," said Sheldon.

Penny looked at Leonard and smiled.

 **Cal Tech Laser Lab, 4:30 PM, Tuesday 24 January, 2012.**

It was really bugging Leonard. He had set up the experiment in his mind, and had started going over possible outcomes. But, he couldn't visualize how he would get the results. Maybe it was because he couldn't curve space, in his experiment, enough to see how the particles behaved. He had been looking at the numbers, and moving them around. _Hehehehehe, actually, I've been moving more letters than numbers._

He had been doing this for over three hours now. Trying to get something, anything, to make sense. _Maybe I can get Sheldon to look this over. He can't help me with the experimental side, but the theoretical…Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but what is it? Hmmmm, all this looks good, maybe I should start…_

"Hey, you, what are you thinking about so hard?"

Leonard looked up to see Penny standing in the doorway, and sounding surprised said, "Whaaa?"

Penny chuckled, "I've been here for almost five minutes, and calling out to you for about a minute."

He still looked confused, "What are you doing here, I…wait, how did you find me?"

"Well, I've been calling you for over an hour," Penny said. "When I couldn't get an answer, and there was no reply to my texts and voicemails, I thought I would come down here. So I called Howard when I parked, he brought me to your office."

"But why would you need to call me?" asked Leonard. "What is so important that you would come down here?"

Penny looked at him strangely, "Did you forget I had the meeting today for contracts and to find out what is going on with the pilot?"

Leonard dropped his chin to his chest and shook his head, "I'm an idiot, yes, I forgot. How did it go?"

"I have soooo much to tell you," said Penny excitedly. "Will you be home anytime soon?"

Leonard looked at his notes, "I've been looking at this for three hours, and I still don't have an answer. So, yeah, let me put away my papers and shut down the equipment and I can leave."

"You do what you have to do," said Penny. "I'm gonna head on home. Why don't you stop and get the food for tonight? Everyone is going to be there coming over at six, so make sure you get everything."

Leonard nodded, and Penny walked over and gave him a kiss, and said, "OK, bye," then turned and walked out.

 **2311 North Robles, 5:30 PM, Tuesday 24 January 2012**

Leonard was sitting in his car, sending a text to Penny. It was only seconds when she answered:

 **c u in a sec.**

Leonard got out of the car and opened the back door. There were two boxes full of food, along with two boxes with pizza in them, on the back seat. Leonard took both pizza boxes out and put them on the trunk, then he grabbed the other boxes. He had just closed the door when Penny appeared.

"Need help?"

"Yeah, that's why I sent the message," said Leonard.

Penny grabbed the two pizza box, and they started toward the door of the apartment building. Entering, they walked up the three flights of stairs, and walked into apartment 4A. Penny put the pizzas on the coffee table and Leonard put the other boxes on the kitchen island. When Sheldon and Amy came in shortly after, Amy having brought him home, Leonard was taking the pasta and salads out of the boxes.

Sheldon had already sat in his 'spot' while Amy was getting their drinks. Penny was moving Leonard's desk chair next to the armchair where he usually sat and Leonard was putting out the plates, cups, and silverware.

Just then, Howard, Bernadette and Raj entered calling out their greetings to everyone. Howard went to get their drinks while Bernadette sat on the couch, on the opposite end of Sheldon's spot. Raj put the six pack of beer he brought with him into the fridge.

Howard and Raj had gotten their drinks, Howard taking Bernadette hers. Penny then spoke, "It's all ready, get what you want. After we eat, I'll go over everything from my meeting today, so no questions until then."

Everyone agreed, went and got their food, and started eating. They all made small talk, asking and telling each other about what had happened during the day. After everyone finished eating, Sheldon and Amy started picking up and washing the dishes, while Howard and Bernadette cleared the leftover food. After about 20 minutes, everything was cleaned up and put away. They all got refills on their drinks and sat back where they were sitting waiting expectantly. Finally, Amy spoke up, "OK bestie, it's your turn. What happened today?"

Penny was smiling, as she started speaking. "OK, as you know, I got a part. I will be playing someone called Jessica Rogers. She is a waitress and aspiring actress in New York. The show will star Jeanie Corbette. She will play my character's friend and roommate, and her name is Allison Major. You two should remember her," Penny was pointing at Amy and Bernadette. "She was on 'Sex in the City', one of Carrie's bosses?" They both nodded, and Penny continued, "The other star is David Collura, you guys know him as Captain Avery."

Leonard knew this was coming, but the other three guys all oooohhhhed, at that information. "His name is Bill Roberts and he's also Allison's boyfriend. His best friend is played by a guy named Dana Lynch. He's had a few guest spots on various shows and I think a couple of small parts in the movies. I had met David and Jeanie at the callbacks, but it was the first time I had met Dana."

"We got together and introduced ourselves to each other, then talked a bit. Then we talked to several of the writers, several other people, costumes, props, all those, then we had lunch. After that, the two creators and the head writer talked to us. Told us a little about the show, then they all wished us well and told us they would see us around the middle of February. We should get our scripts the first week of February, then shoot a week later."

"How much are you getting paid?" Asked Amy.

"Yeah," said Bernadette, "how much?"

Penny didn't say anything for a few seconds, then asked, "How much are you getting paid Amy?" Amy looked down and didn't say anything, so Penny turned toward Bernadette, "How about you Bernadette, how much?"

"I'm getting a buttload of money," said Bernadette.

"How about you get more specific?" said Penny.

Bernadette didn't say anything, just looked down.

"Yeah, I thought so," said Penny. Then she grinned. "I get it, I really do. I was always looking for what stars were getting paid. Were still in negotiations, but since this is a new show, and I'm basically a new actor, I won't get as much as the others. Dave and Jeanie are probably getting 60 to 100 thousand Dana may be getting around 40-50. I'll probably get 20 thousand."

Bernadette looked puzzled, "That's not much, I made that and more when I worked at The Cheesecake Factory."

Penny had a puzzled expression on her face, then a look of comprehension came over it and she started chuckling. "No, Bernadette, if the show gets picked up, all those numbers are per episode."

There was a sharp intake of breath by Bernadette, "How many episodes?"

"Well, if we are doing well, and get approval for more episodes, we should get 22 episodes for the season."

"That would be over 400 thousand for the season, that's more than I make," said Bernadette indignantly.

Penny was grinning. "Well, look at the stars. If those two get 100 thousand an episode, they're making more than 2 million a year."

Everyone looked shocked, and Amy was the first to speak. "So you're are going to get 400 thousand a year?"

"No, Amy," said Penny. "First off, unless the show is picked up for the fall, all I'll get is the six to ten thousand for the pilot, the other actors will get more. I only get the 400 thousand if they keep me after the pilot, if the show goes on to become an actual series, if the show is successful and if the show gets what's called a back end order. They usually order 13 episodes, and if it's doing well, they'll order another 9. Now, if they keep me around, I'll get 13 episodes worth of pay, so if they pick up the pilot, I'll get around 250 thousand. There's other things that have to be negotiated but a lot of this is based on the contract with the Screen Actors Guild."

"For example," said Penny, "if they decide they don't want me to continue, after the pilot, they have to pay me such and such an amount, but it will be a lot less than the 250 thousand I would get if I was part of the show. I also have to sign a contract that lasts seven years. This way, if the show is renewed they have me for at least that long. After the first three years, though, I can renegotiate my pay. Now the studio would have to agree, but if it's successful, there shouldn't be a problem, as long as I don't get too greedy, but I'm sure my agent will guide me there. Then, before I get it, they take out taxes, my agents fee, the SAG dues, all that. By the time I would get my money, my twenty-thousand would more than likely be down to twelve-thousand or so."

Again, everyone looked shocked.

"So, that's enough about what I'll make. Let's see, the producers have a production deal with Warner-Brothers, so it will be shot there. It's like a 20 minute drive from here, right down the 134. Once we shoot it, then it will be shopped around. I understand that CBS has first shot at it. I'm sure they will watch it, have some test audiences watch it and then decide. If they don't want it, then NBC, FOX, ABC and possibly the CW may have a shot. We would just have to wait until we find out. But the producers seemed quite sure that CBS does want it."

"So, I get the script in a couple of weeks, we shoot a week after that. Then we wait, it may take up to a month, maybe longer, to find out if it's picked up by a network. Then we would have to wait until the up-fronts, or just before, to find out what day and time we would be on."

"Up-fronts?" Said Howard.

"Yeah," said Penny, "the up-fronts are where the networks put out their schedule, they bring in the stars and try to sell most of their ad time, upfront or before the season, which is where the name comes from. It usually happens mid to late May. If we get picked up by CBS, we may be onstage at the up-fronts in New York. I think that's about it."

"What's the show about?" asked Raj.

"Oh, sorry," said Penny. "It's basically how the two women are trying to get work in New York. One is trying to become a TV writer, the other is an actress, working as a waitress, that's me. The boyfriend is just starting out working at an ad agency, creating ads, and his best friend is trying to become a chef and open his own restaurant. It's gonna be called either _Tales of the City_ or _Major's Tales of the City_."

"Well, I can't wait to see it, bestie," said Amy, sounding excited.

"Well, even if it doesn't get picked up," said Penny, "you will be able to see it. I'll get a CD with the show on it, to use as an example of my work, so I'll play it for everyone. Now, anything else?" No one said anything, so Penny asked Bernadette about her work, and everyone else broke into groups to talk about various things.

 **Apt 4B, 11 PM**

They were in the bathroom, brushing their teeth. Leonard had finished and was getting in bed when Penny spoke up, "I forgot, there was one other thing that happened. It completely slipped my mind."

"What?"

"I had to fill out my paperwork, to join the SAG-AFTRA, and while I was doing that, my agent told me there were three other women with my name."

"What?" said Leonard sounding shocked, "Three other women?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "it was a surprise to me also. Anyway, my agent said it would be better to come up with a different name, so I wouldn't be confused with the others with that name. I couldn't think of anything quickly, so I just used my grandmother's maiden name, and something that could be my actual given name."

"Huh," said Leonard, "why your grandmother's name, and not your mother?"

"There were two or three with my mother's madden name, so I went with my grandmother's."

Leonard looked puzzled, "Wait a minute, how could something like that slip your mind?"

"Well, maybe it didn't slip my mind," said Penny with a sly grin. "Maybe, I just wanted to tell you first."

"Well, OK, I can believe that."

"Leonard," said Penny, still grinning, "what do you think about sleeping with a new television star tonight."

"I don't know," said Leonard with a grin. "What's this big star's name?"

Penny smiled and said, "Penelope Jensen." She leaned over and kissed Leonard, then said, "But, I'll always be Penny to you."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N Just a quick point. A couple of reviews and a couple of PMs seem to think no one is talking about, or indeed, knows where the show will be taped. Penny mentions it specifically in chapter three, when she was talking to the gang. Telling them it will be shot at Warner Brothers.**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Late January 2012**

After the excitement of getting the part, things settled back down for Penny. She went back to work at The Cheesecake Factory. After all, she wasn't going get any money from the show until she shot the pilot, and she still needed money to live. And after the pilot, even if it was picked up, she wouldn't get anything until they actually started shooting the show in August. So, for now, she was back as a waitress.

Leonard was still working on his new experiment and had managed to work out some of the theoretical underpinnings. He had managed to get this done, even without Sheldon. However, he knew if he wanted to get even more sensitive detection, he would have to talk to Sheldon about the theory at some point.

Leonard and Penny were spending more time in 4B together. They slept there almost every night. And, except for nights the whole group ate in 4A, and the nights Penny worked the dinner shift, they would have dinner alone in 4B. Leonard was now keeping most of his clothes, toiletries, and medications there. In addition, one of his white boards and his computer was now in the apartment. He was basically only using 4A as an office or a game room.

While Penny was now comfortable telling Leonard she loved him, she was still uncomfortable calling what they were doing living together, even though she realized that was exactly what they were doing. She just decided if she didn't think about it, it would be easier for her to get used to it. So, for now, if anyone asked, she simply said they spent a lot of time together.

About a week after telling everyone about her show at dinner, Penny had another meeting to try and work out her contract. She met with Kelli and Jim to talk about it. While most of the work was being done by Penny's agent and Kelli and Jim's staff, they felt getting to know Penny better would help lock in what they thought she should get.

After a three hour meeting and a lunch, they had worked things out. While much of it would be guided by the contract limits that SAG had negotiated with the studios, networks and producers, there was a bit of wiggle room for individuals. Penny left rather happy, but knowing she wouldn't be able to tell Leonard about how everything had gone, until after she got home, around 11 PM. So, she headed for The Cheesecake Factory, to get ready to work the dinner shift.

 **Apt 4B, 11:10 PM, 27 January 2012**

Leonard was working in 4B, he had moved over there after eating dinner with Sheldon and Amy. He wanted to be there when Penny got home. She had the meeting today, and he was eager to find out what had occurred at Penny's meeting.

While he waited, he was working on his whiteboard, trying to get the equations to work. He kept running into the same problem, the equations of Quantum Field Theory weren't solvable, if the curved spacetime of General Relativity was the background.

 _There has to be a way to solve this._ He sighed. _But this is exactly why Sheldon, among others, have been working on String Theory, or Quantum Loop Gravity. Maybe this isn't solvable without an actual string theory or an actual quantum loop gravitational theory. In which case going to Sheldon won't even help me. What if I moved this term over to…_

He heard the door open, and saw what appeared to be a rather exhausted Penny come in. He walked over to her, giving her a kiss and a hug. Then he said, "So how did it go today?"

"Let me get a shower," said Penny, "and then I'll come out and give you a short explanation. I'm really tired and don't really want to go into it all that deeply tonight."

"OK, you go get a shower, I'll get us some wine and we can talk about it some. If you're tired I don't want to keep you up too late."

She smiled at him, "Thank's sweety, I'll be back out in twenty minutes or so." She headed for the bathroom for her shower, while Leonard headed to the kitchen. He poured two glasses of wine, took them to the coffee table and then went back to looking at his white board. True to her word, and surprising Leonard, she was out in less than 20 minutes. Leonard and her sat down on the couch, and she took a healthy drink of the wine.

"OK," said Penny, "Things went really good today. I got to talk to Kelli and Jim about my character, their ideas for her, their ideas for the show, where they thought they might take her in the future, how they planned to introduce her. They also warned me that some of their ideas might get thrown out, depending on how I present her, how I act her."

"They liked some of my ideas, and we discussed how my ideas might be worked into the show. They stressed how happy their were with my audition. I'll get the pilot script in a couple of weeks, Monday, the 6th, I think. Kelli and Jim want to go over it with me, since I've never had a series script before, and then we have the table read on Monday, the 13th. We'll do rehearsals over the next few days, and if we need to, we'll do some pre taping on Thursday the 16th, and then on Friday, we shoot the rest of the pilot in front of an audience."

Leonard asked, "Will I be able to see it?"

Penny smiled, "Of course, you'll be there for the taping. Probably in my dressing room. I don't think they'll want you to come out and watch on the set, because they'll be cameras, and people running around and the producers, and the director, it'll just be too, busy. And since you haven't been there before, and really don't know what's going on, they may be worried about you getting in the way. So my dressing room should be a safe place and it will have a monitor so you can see what is being recorded. Although, if I'm not needed, I could bring you along with me to the floor."

"Did you work out your contract?" Asked Leonard.

"Yes, we did," said Penny. "I'm getting ten thousand for the pilot. If it goes to series and they decide they want to replace me with someone else, I'll get $50,000. If we go to series, I'll get $25,000 for each episode. My agent and I were expecting only $20,000, but my agent said after I met with Jim and Kelli, their staff came in with an offer of $25,000 so maybe Jim and Kelli approved of me."

"Of course SAG will take their dues, my agent gets 10%, then there's taxes, so out of that first $10,000, I may only get about $6,000. Then when I start getting the $25,000, I'll only be getting around $15,000. Which if we run all 22 episodes would still be over $300,000."

Leonard gave out a low whistle. "That's like over three years of my salary."

Penny chuckled, "Aren't you glad I kept you around, now you can be a kept man?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Leonard dismissively, "like you ever thought of making me a kept man. And I'm not sure I want to be one, remember what happened with Bernadette and Howard."

"Yeah, "forget it", said Penny quickly. Penny wanted to move on as she remembered what else happened that night, and didn't want it brought up. I'm just happy everything has worked out and I'm going to get at least $60,000, simply because CBS seems to really want this show."

Leonard smiled and said, "I just want to tell you how proud of you I am. You kept working at it, and now you have a chance to be a big television star."

Penny smiled, slid over to where Leonard was sitting and wrapped him up in a hug. After a bit, she backed off and gave Leonard a sweet kiss. The kiss turned deep and sensual, at which point Penny rose and pulled Leonard toward the bedroom.

Leonard said mockingly, "But, you were so tired."

"Shut up Leonard."

Leonard closed his mouth, and followed Penny.

 **Late January, 2012**

Leonard and Penny continued their routine during the next week, with work during the day, and spending the nights, except those Penny had to work, together. While he was still taking Sheldon everywhere, he spent very little time in apartment 4A, preferring to spend it with Penny. Penny had quit worrying about having Leonard in her apartment all the time, it just seemed natural to have him there now, in fact, she now became uneasy on those rare nights he wasn't there.

Penny was excited to shoot the pilot and she was using the upper left corner of Leonard's white board to count down the days until she got the script. It was Tuesday, six days before the script was to arrive, when a large envelope was delivered to the apartment, just as she got home from The Cheesecake Factory. Ripping open the envelope, there was a short letter.

An hour later, Leonard got home and found Penny sitting on the couch, drinking wine, and again watching a television that wasn't on. He sat next to her and asked what was wrong.

She was quiet for a moment, then said, "I don't know. Jim and Kelli want to see me tomorrow, at ten, at their office on the Warner Brothers lot."

"Why?"

"I don't know," said Penny as she passed the letter to Leonard. It took only a few seconds for Leonard to read it as, except for the salutations and signature, it didn't say anything more than Penny said.

"Are you worried?" asked Leonard.

"I don't know," said Penny. "If they wanted to replace me, they probably would have done it through my agent. But, maybe, they think it's better to do it in person. I can't tell."

"Well, you really can't worry about it now," said Leonard. "Why don't you just sit there and relax? I'll get you a glass of wine, I'll make dinner."

Penny smiled at him, "Thanks."

"I'll also take tomorrow off, so I'll be here when you get home. That way, if things don't go so well, I'll be here for you."

"That'll be great," said Penny with a slight smile, "Thank you sweetie, I appreciate the support."

 **Apt 4B, 2 PM, Wednesday, 31 January, 2012**

Leonard wasn't working on anything, he was simply playing different side missions of Red Dead Redemption, waiting for Penny to get home. It was just before 3:30 when the door to the apartment opened and Penny waltzed in with a smile on her face.

"I take it the meeting went well?"

"Oh, yes, yes it did," said Penny "They even took me to lunch. It was so silly of me to be worried. They are very excited to see how I do."

"I'll get some tea for us," said Leonard.

"I'm not going anywhere tonight," said Penny, how about some wine?"

Leonard nodded and headed toward the kitchen, pulled a bottle out of the fridge, poured two glasses and brought them, and the bottle, back to the couch. He looked at Penny and said, "OK, tell me all about it."

"Well," said Penny, "I was really nervous when I went in. You know I was thinking they were going to get rid of me. But, they even came out to get me at the gate, instead of just having security send me in."

"When we got to the office, they asked if I wanted coffee, or tea, or if I wanted a pastry. I asked for coffee and it must have been obvious I was nervous because they told me to relax."

"They asked how I was, made some small talk, and it turns out they were waiting for Sam to show up." Seeing Leonard's puzzled expression, she added, "He's the head writer."

"So anyway, after he got there," said Penny, "we talked about my character. They said they wanted to try a few things with me. They really liked how I delivered the sarcastic lines…"

"Why isn't that a surprise?" said Leonard.

Penny glared at Leonard, "Shut up, Leonard."

Leonard just laughed, and Penny shook her head and continued, "They talked about how they envisioned the character. That she was going to be like an observer of what was going on with the character of Ally. But, after hearing how I delivered the sarcastic lines, they are thinking of making her an observer and someone who judges Ally."

"They went ahead and made some changes to the script, and they wrote additional lines they may put into the script. The reason they wanted me there was to read those lines."

"They were also very interested in my facial expressions. They made some changes to the script, to get me to use my facial expressions more, when I'm judging her. And they also had some extra lines and situations to allow me to use those expressions."

"By this time it was after noon, and they took me to lunch. I was surprised because Jeanie was at the restaurant. I didn't know she was going to be there, but they had changed her lines and situations also, and they wanted us to read together."

"So, after lunch, we went back to a set, I wish I could remember the name of the show, but it was a small living room set. They had us memorize our lines, then we would do them."

"I was so worried," said Penny. "They gave us our blocking…"

"What's blocking?"

"They tell us where we are supposed to start, and where we're supposed to move. I kept screwing that part up. They told me I wasn't on my mark, I was looking at the wrong place, I was close enough to the mark, but I was out of the light. Jeez, I couldn't get anything right there for a while."

"I started making mistakes in my lines, because I was so frustrated. Jeanie was so kind, she asked for a break and took me off to the side and asked if I had worked on television before. When I told her no, she explained about how you have to be at your mark, at the right time, look in a certain direction so the camera can see you, be in your light."

"Of course, I didn't realize all of this, never having worked in television before. God, I was so busy thinking about moving here, facing there, and looking for the light, instead of just being where the light was. With all that, it was no wonder I was having trouble with my lines."

"Jeanie would explain exactly where I had to be, and what direction and everything, so when we started again, I could at least get close enough to where I was supposed to be, and where I was supposed to look. I got the lines in, the facial expressions in, and Jim, Kelli and Sam were all happy. They told me they were going to work some more on the script so they could have it ready for us, by next Monday."

"They told us that we would get it sometime after six on Monday. They said we were done, and they got a golf cart to take Jeanie and I back to the parking lot. Jeanie said goodbye and said she'd see me in a week and a half. I said bye and headed for my car."

"So, it looks like they are expanding my part a bit. Jeanie was so nice to me. A star like her and a nobody like me and she was so nice."

"So, you think you'll be able to handle it when you really start filming it?"

"I think so," said Penny. "But I really don't have a choice, I have to do it, and I will do it. But enough of that, what are you going to order for dinner?"

"What am **I** going to order?" said Leonard. "It your night to cook, you order."

"Pleeeeeeaaaaase Leonard."

"Ok," said Leonard, "but you owe me."

Penny just smiled at him.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N There's going to be some differences in the release scheduled for the next two weeks. I will be on the road next weekend and Monday, so I won't be able to do the normal schedule next Monday (9/3). So, here's how it will go. You get this about 12 hours early. You'll get one on Thursday morning 8/30, another one in the morning of either Tuesday 9/4 or Wednesday 9/5, and finally back to Monday on 9/10. On the bright side, at least I hope it's the bright side for all of you, you get four chapters, instead of three in that span.**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Apt 4B, 6 PM, Feb 6th, 2012**

Penny had been anxiously waiting all day, even though she knew it wouldn't be there until six. When she heard the knock, she almost ran to the door and practically ripped it open. There stood a messenger holding an envelope. The messenger wanted her signature before he would give it to her, and she just scribbled her name, before grabbing it away from the messenger. She then closed the door, turned and went to her couch. After she sat down, she ripped open the envelope, and began reading the pilot script for "Tales of the City".

Leonard came up the stairs, heading toward 4B. Just as he got to the door, he heard Penny laughing loudly. Puzzled, he opened the door and saw her sitting on the couch reading something. Then he remembered, the script was coming today. He heard her laugh again.

"It must be pretty funny," said Leonard.

Penny's head swung around, "I didn't even hear you come in."

"You must really be involved in that thing," said Leonard. "I heard you laughing before I came in. Is it that funny?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "I didn't expect it to be. Oh, there has to be jokes, after all it is a comedy. But they have to introduce everyone, so that takes some time. It's also why pilots are usually longer than regular episodes, but they usually cut enough of it to get it under 30 minutes, when it's time to broadcast."

"So, you seem to like it," said Leonard.

"Yeah, I do," said Penny. She paused for a minute, "You know, I'm still kind of in shock over this. People just don't walk in and get major parts in weekly television series. But I have the script, I've talked to the producers, I kind of feel lucky."

"No, you're not lucky," said Leonard. "You worked at this. You kept going to auditions, when you weren't getting parts, you kept taking acting classes, even when you really didn't have the money. I'd say you earned it."

Penny looked at Leonard like she was going to cry, but said softly, "Thank you Leonard, I need to hear things like that, once in a while I can't tell you how many times I almost gave up. But, here I am."

Leonard smiled, "I'll let you get back to reading the script. But, can I read it when you're done?"

"Sure," said Penny. "I hope you like it. But let me finish it now. I'll have to start trying different readings, so you can't have it for all that long."

Leonard smiled, walking toward the kitchen.

 **Apt 4B, 11 PM, Saturday, Feb 11th, 2012**

Leonard and Penny came through the door giggling. They had been out for dinner, and Leonard had even suggested that they go out for some dancing. They would have to go get Leonard's car in the morning as they were both more than slightly drunk. They got to the couch both fell onto the it, still giggling.

"Thank you for taking me out tonight, Leonard," said Penny.

"I wanted to give you a congratulatory dinner," said Leonard, "and I didn't want to do it tomorrow, since you have to go in on Monday. And, I hope you noticed, I went out dancing with you."

"Yeah," said Penny with a smile, "thank you for that too. Come here."

She pulled him toward her, giving him a kiss. The kiss lasted and suddenly Penny groaned. Their mouths opened, their tongues met, eliciting a groan from Leonard. Their arms went around each other, and they both leaned over until they were laying on the couch. After several minutes, she had undone his belt and zipper and now had her hand down his pants stroking him, He had his hand under her bra and was cupping her left breast. Suddenly she pulled back, stood up and pulled him up. "Come on," she said, "Let's move to the bedroom."

"Good idea," he said, as they both headed to the bedroom, shedding clothes as they went.

 **Apt 4B, Monday, 6 PM, Feb 13th, 2012**

Penny was in the kitchen, when Leonard came home. He was surprised at seeing her actually cooking, and said, "I'm guessing that you must have had a good day today, did you?"

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun today," said Penny. "As you know, I didn't have to be there until 10, but I got there at 9:30. I was so excited, I got to the gate, gave my name. I almost messed up, but caught myself and said Penelope Jensen."

"He looked at his sheet and asked what I was there for. I told him to shoot 'Tales of the City, with Jim and Kelly and he gave me directions on how to get to Stage 25. Then he said 'Have a nice day, Ms Jensen'. Even though I just gave him that name, I had to think for a minute to realize he meant me, with my stage name."

"Heheheheh," said Leonard, "it looks like you're going to have to get used to giving and being called that name."

"Yeah, I will," said Penny. "When I got there, the costume person, Janet, was at the coffee table when I was getting coffee, and said 'Hi Penelope.' and again it didn't register at first, when I finally realized, I said hi to her. She told me she would like to see me after the table read, so she could look at me wearing some costumes and so she could get some measurements, as that would give her time to make any alterations before we shoot."

"I talked to Kelli and Jim, and around 9:45, Jeanie and Dave came in, then Dana right after them. They had tables set up, in the area where the cameras usually go. Each table had places with our names and at 10, we all sat down. We all introduced ourselves. Everyone was there, the set people, make-up, hair, props. Even the camera, sound and lighting people, but they really aren't needed until we do blocking tomorrow."

Penny continued cooking, she was making spaghetti, making sure the noodles were cooked, as she continued, "After all the introductions, Kelli and Jim welcomed everyone, then gave a little talk, and after that, we started reading."

"The director," said Penny, "is just doing the pilot and if we get to series, someone else will come in, but he was telling us some ideas he has concerning blocking and what he wants us to do. He'll get more involved when we move to the set."

"Jeanie is really funny," said Penny. "Her voice can change a line from regular to really funny. I flew by several lines without laughing when I was reading it here, but when she said it at the read, I couldn't keep a straight face. Dave hit every inflection perfectly, and Dana was amazing. I was wondering what I was doing there."

"Penny," said Leonard, "If they didn't think you…"

"Hold on Leonard," said Penny. "We took a break about half way through and while I was getting some more coffee, Jeanie came up to me and was just so nice to tell me how my delivery of the sarcastic lines was just so good, and she was looking forward to working with me. Dave told me I was doing very well, told me I was funny. And, Dana said me he loved my read on the character."

"See," said Leonard, "you didn't have anything to worry about."

"Yeah," said Penny, "I felt better after that and we continued the read. I started noticing the other people were laughing when I did my lines, as much as the other three, so it wasn't just the actors that were laughing at my reading, and as a result, I relaxed. We finally finished reading and everyone applauded, and several cheered. Kelli said a few more words, telling everybody when they had to be back the next morning. She also told us we could arrive earlier if we felt we needed extra time to have everything ready, or just wanted to eat as there would be food starting at eight."

"The four of us actors hung around a bit and talked about the script, about certain places we felt we struggled, and talked about places where we interacted, and about those interactions. Then Dave and Dana had to leave, and Jeanie and I talked for a bit, getting to know each other, and then Janet came by and asked both of us back to the costume shop."

"I'll bet you were looking at the shoes," said Leonard with a grin, "weren't you?"

"Of course I did," said Penny with a laugh as she put the bread in the oven and set the timer, "you wouldn't expect anything else, would you? Anyway, we walked with her and after we got there, Janet asked if she could do Jeanie's measurements first, as she had most of her sizes and wouldn't have to do as much measuring, so it wouldn't take as long."

"I said it was fine with me, so Jeanie went first and we talked while Janet did the measurements. She had Jeanie try on various outfits and Janet pinned several of them, then told Jeanie she was done. Janet did all my measurements while Jeanie was changing. Then Janet gave me several outfits to try on. As I was changing, Jeanie finished, but waited until I came out. She wanted to say goodbye to me, so when I came out, she gave me a hug, said goodbye, and told me she would see me tomorrow."

"To be honest," said Penny draining the noodles, "Janet was really good when picking out the outfits. She only had to pin one of them and the other five fit just fine, so she hung them on a portable clothes hanger. She kept the one she pinned, then got the ones she was going to sew for Jeanie, and told me I was done. I left the costume shop and walked around on the sets for a while, to get familiar with my apartment on the show.

"You would not believe everything they put on the set. I don't think anyone could see it, but there were some pictures of Jeanie, and there was even one there of the both of us. All I can think of is they used Photoshop to get us together. But, the magazines are all current and we have actual pots and pans in the kitchen, as well as an actual working coffee maker. And you should see my bedroom, there are a bunch of care bears and my little pony animals, a lot like our bedroom. It also has a bunch of movie and theatre posters. It was pretty amazing for to see the detail they put into it. Can you set the table for me?"

"Sure, I can get that," said Leonard getting up. He smiled as he turned away at her causal use of "our bedroom".

"After that, I headed home," said Penny, "but I stopped at the store to buy a few things to make for dinner. Then I got home around two, read through the script again, read my lines again. Then went over my lines several time, trying to think of where I might walk or move, and maybe what action I might do. Can you put the sauce on the table and get us some wine, while I get the salad and bread?"

Leonard nodded, went to the stove, and grabbed the sauce, taking it over to the table. He then got two glasses, and a bottle of wine, took them to the table and poured the wine. Penny grabbed two bowls, filled with salad, out of the fridge and took them to the table. Then she headed back to the oven, and took the bread out, put the four slices on another plate and took that to the table.

They sat down to eat and Leonard said, "Like I said, it does sound like you had a really good day."

"I did," said Penny, "especially after I got the encouragement, that really made my day."

"So, what do you have to do tomorrow?"

"Well, we'll do blocking, that's where the director tells us where to stand, when to move, where to move, all of that. Then, they'll set up where the cameras have to go. At some point, they'll aim the lights, so were in light when we do the show. I'm sure sound will be in there somewhere also."

"Is that going to be all day?" asked Leonard.

"Well, according to Jeanie, we'll spend the first few hours doing all of that. Then we'll get lunch, and then do what Jeanie called a stumble through. I didn't understand that, so Jeanie explained once we get everything down, we do what's called a run through. Since tomorrow afternoon will be the first time we do the blocking and lines, and we're still learning our lines, we aren't really running, it's more like stumbling, which is where the name comes from, I guess. Once we're moving, the director can make changes to our movement, or where we'll stand. Which may change where the cameras are or change the lighting."

"Wow," said Leonard, "I wouldn't have ever thought of all that going on. I mean when I see a show, it looks like they just run right through it."

Penny chuckled, "No, there is a lot going on. After the stumble through, we'll be working on individual scenes, at least those that need work. I expect a lot of those will be mine, and Jeanie said there may be more changes in the scripts after that. She said not to memorize the script right away. She says to use the scripts up to and even to have it handy during the taping, to be ready for changes, so I can reference it between takes."

"Anyway, that's what I get to look forward to tomorrow. But, enough about me, how are things going with you? How was your day?"

"Pretty good, in some ways," said Leonard. "I asked Sheldon to come to my lab tomorrow, I'm struggling with a problem."

"What," said Penny, "are you nuts? Sheldon? You know what a condescending ass he can be."

"Yes, Sheldon," said Leonard with a smile. "You forget, in addition to being a condescending ass, he is also a rather brilliant theoretical physicist. I need the brilliant theoretical physicist part of him, so I have to put up with the condescending ass part first." Leonard decided to yank Penny's chain, "I guess I could go talk to Leslie, she's shown an interest in helping me with my problems."

Penny did not look amused. "Are you sure you want to go over this with Leslie? I'm sure I can come up with some reason not to go see her, like me going all Nebraska on you."

Leonard was grinning, "Why? You don't think I'd be hitting on her, do you?"

"It's not so much that I'd be worried about you hitting on her," said Penny. "I'm more worried about her hitting on you, and you not realizing it. Maybe, I'll have to go with you to watch her."

"You don't have to do that, you have your show to rehearse," said Leonard. He decided to pull on the chain a bit harder. "I suppose instead of talking about my idea, we could find someone and have a kissing contest."

Penny stared daggers at him and simply said, "Nebraska."

He started to grin, "You won't be there, and I can't think of anyone she is seeing right now, so a contest isn't really in the cards. Don't worry, I'll think I'll just stick with Sheldon for now."

Penny still didn't look modified. "Fine."

Leonard was still grinning, "Hey, you're the one that brought up talking to Sheldon was crazy, I just brought up someone else I could talk to."

"Just don't talk for now," said Penny. "You just go see Sheldon tomorrow."

Leonard was by now openly laughing "I will, you don't have to worry about me seeing Leslie, I wasn't serious about that anyway."

Penny started chuckling, "Ok, you got me. How about we finish dinner clean up and watch some TV. I'm looking at shows a bit different now."

"Sounds good," said Leonard. "Do you have to get to bed early?"

"No," said Penny, " I don't have to be in until 10, so I can sleep in a bit."

"It looks like you found your ideal job," said Leonard smiling. "Sleep in and still get to work on time."

Penny rolled her eyes and shook her head.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N Here's the next chapter. As I said, I will be on the road, so you won't get one of Monday. You will get one on Tuesday.**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Apt 4B, 8 AM, Feb 14th, 2012**

Leonard had left a half hour before, but Penny got another half hour of sleep, and after she got up, a cup of coffee. She took several sips, while checking her email, then took the coffee with her to the bathroom and got her shower. She had dried her hair and dressed in loose fitting, comfortable clothing.

She had debated getting something to eat, but then remembered there would be the craft services table with all sorts of goodies, so she filled her travel mug with coffee, put her script and some makeup in her bag, and left the apartment at 9, knowing it would take a half hour to get to Burbank, and the Warner Brothers' studios.

She got off of the Ventura Freeway at Riverside, and turned left on West Olive. She turned into the studios at gate three and a few minutes later was parking her car next to Stage 25. There she parked in between, several Audis and Mercedes Benzes, a couple of Lexuses, and even a Ferrari. She was a bit embarrassed by her car, but thought, _Well, at least mine is a foreign car, even though it's only a Volkswagen._

One of the people who had been hovering around Jim and Kelli yesterday saw Penny come in and walked quickly up to her. "Hi, Penelope," said the woman. "My name is Tina Powell, I'm the production manager. I want to take you to your dressing room."

"Nice to meet you Tina," said Penny. "Please, call me Penny."

"Ok, Penny, follow me, this way" Tina walked quickly and Penny found she had to trot to catch up. She took Penny to the other end of the stage, and led her up the stairs. There were several doors, and Tina walked up to one and opened it. "Here ya go, Penny." As Penny walked in, she saw Penelope Jensen on the door, along with her character's name.

"Your bathroom is that door over there," said Tina. "It also has a shower, and a hair drier, along with a makeup table. You can see the television up on the wall, the DVR below it. It also has a Blue Ray player. Over there is the fridge and you can see the chairs and sofa. If you're not needed on the floor, you can watch what's happening on the set, on the TV."

"The red phone over there is connected to a phone on the floor, if you come up here, tell me, and I can call you if you're not there when needed, but Jim and Kelli like their actors to be available. The other phone is for the regular phone network." She handed Penny a card and continued, "This is the username and password you should use to connect to our Wi-Fi network."

"We're going to start at 10, so be downstairs, where the table was yesterday. You can bring your coffee with you, and keep your script around. If you have any question, feel free to call me or if you see me, just ask. OK, gotta run, see you in a bit."

Tina ran off and Penny was breathless just listening to and watching her. Penny wanted to look around some more, but she also wanted to get something to eat and didn't want to be late for the start of rehearsal, so she left her dressing room, closed the door, and headed back down the stairs.

She got to craft services and picked out various fruits and put the in a bowl. She also refilled her coffee cup and stood near the table, eating the fruit. After she was finished, she walked over to where the tables had been yesterday, found her directors chair and sat down. She smiled and said hi to Jeanie and David as they arrived, and after a few minutes Dana came up.

Exactly at ten, the Kelli, Jim and another guy came out. Jim introduced him: his name was Ron Andrews, and said he will only direct the pilot, as he was already signed for another show. Tina was there also, and she passed out four new pages to the script. Penny shoved her new pages between the old ones, then everyone was ready to start.

The director said a few words, and then told everyone to come over to the main sets. Penny and Jeanie went to their apartment, and David and Dana went to David's apartment. With that, the director told David and Dana he would be over there in 15 to 20 minutes, after he set the women's blocking first. He came back over to the women's apartment and said, "Ok, everyone ready?" When the women nodded, he said, "OK, Penelope, stand behind the table, and Jeanie, over by the sink. This is where we're going to start out."

 **Caltech Laser lab, 11 AM, Feb 14th, 2012**

Leonard was going over his calculations, making sure he had everything right. Sheldon was coming down to the lab and he didn't want to be harassed or condescended to, because he missed something in his math. Getting to the final page, he flipped it over, and went to get a cup of coffee.

He had just sat down at the workbench he used as a desk, when Sheldon came in.

"OK," said Sheldon, "Let's get this over with. It shouldn't take long. I'm sure I'll find something wrong with this. Tell me about it."

Leonard shook his head, he didn't want to keep hearing crap from Sheldon, but he did need his theoretical insights. So, he started explaining. "Sheldon, I want to explain what I'm trying to do, and then want you to look at the theoretical side to maybe see if it's possible."

"What exactly are you trying to do?" asked Sheldon.

"Well," said Leonard. "you know the EM force is a vector boson…"

"Yes, Leonard," Sheldon said dismissively, "All spin 1 particles are vector bosons, including the weak force particles, even though they have mass. You don't need to explain it to me, I'm the theorist, after all."

Leonard gritted his teeth, and then said, "I'm going over this methodically, Sheldon, so you can see where my thinking comes from and also so I can keep my thinking on track."

"Oh, well if that's why you're doing it, continue."

"OK," said Leonard, "I've been doing some work with lasers, and I was able to get some, what I thought were reflections off of photons. I'm able to handle the Quantum Field Theory math, well enough. I checked the math and my preliminary results showed the reflection shapes I was getting, matched the shape the math said I should get."

"Really?" said Sheldon, "You can handle the …"

"Yes, Sheldon, I can, and the reflections did fit to the first order," said Leonard. "I'll give you my results and the calculations so you can verify it. I realize you don't believe anyone can come up with something good, besides you. But, that is not what I want to talk to you about, so will you be quiet and listen?"

"Very well, you don't have to be so snippy."

Leonard sighed, "Then listen please. Now, here's the problem I'm having with this whole idea. I can match the first order calculation and the shape of the reflection for spin 1. I've been thinking about trying to see if I could detect other bosons. The scalar boson, the Higgs, and possibly the graviton, which, as you know is a tensor boson…"

"Leonard," interrupted Sheldon again, "Scalars, vectors are tensors also, just lower ranking tensors."

"Sheldon, I said let me finish, then you can make your snarky comments, OK?" Leonard looked at Sheldon sternly, and he simply nodded. "Here's the thing," said Leonard, "I think I know how to calculate the shape of the Higgs, but I don't know how to calculate the shape of the graviton."

"I can handle the tensors of General Relativity, where gravity is the warping of space-time. But, I don't know how to do the calculations for the quantum equivalent of the graviton, the exchange particle for gravity. I know you can't renormalize a graviton, I think it has something to do with the tensor representation in GR."

"Actually, no, it doesn't," said Sheldon. "It's a property of tensors generally."

"But," said Leonard, "vectors and scalars are generalized tensors, and you can renormalize vectors and scalars."

"Well, yes," said Sheldon, "I was being imprecise. It's a property of rank 2 or higher tensors, the equivalent of spin 2 particles. Rank 0 and rank 1, representing spin 1 and spin zero particles, are renormalizable, so scalars, like the Higgs and vectors, like the photon, can be worked with. The problem comes when you try to transfer a rank two tensor, into a Lagrangian, if you try to work out a second order loop, you can't pick a cut off, to do the renormalization which causes ultraviolet infinities."

"Anyway," said Leonard, "I was hoping you would be able to calculate the shape of the reflection on a graviton, and the second order reflections of the other particles. So I could check to see if there really are any reflections. I may have to see about getting some time on the petawatt laser in Texas, or possibly see if the university can afford a more powerful laser, to test it, but I need the math worked out before I start down those roads."

Sheldon didn't say anything, but appeared to be looking at the ceiling. Leonard knew he was thinking about it, so he stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, when Sheldon suddenly spoke. "Leonard, I can do the one loop for the graviton, but I think I have to do a second loop to get a definitive shape, and that's where the problems start."

"The other particles wont be any problem for second order and higher, after all, I led the university's team which did the sixth order calculations. Let me look at your results and calculations. If they aren't totally worthless, I may be able to see something in them. It may be a couple of months, as I have my own more important work to consider."

Leonard ignored the dismissive comment and handed over the folder with all his work. He of course kept all the original work. Sheldon took the folder and started to walk out. He stopped at the door and said, "Are you going to be able to take me home tonight? You've been ignoring me to be home in time for Penny and if this continues, I'll have to write in some fines for the roommate agreement."

Leonard shook his head, "No Sheldon, I'll be able to take you home, you won't have to call Amy tonight."

"Good," said Sheldon, "and don't forget it's New Comic Book night and we have to stop at the comic book store." He turned and left before Leonard could say anything.

 **Hallway, Apartment Building, 8 PM, Feb 14th, 2012**

Sheldon and Leonard had walked up the stairs. Leonard knew Penny was home, as he saw her car before entering the building. He was carrying a bouquet of roses he had stopped to buy, for Penny, over Sheldon's objections, and several boxes of Chinese food, for their dinner. Upon arriving on the fourth floor, Sheldon walked to 4A and Leonard went to 4B. Leonard tried to open the door, but it was locked.

Leonard looked puzzled and knocked on the door. After about a minute he knocked again. Now, he was worried. He walked over to 4A and got the emergency key, walked back and unlocked the door.

The lights were off, so he flipped the switch. He could see Penny's jacket on the couch, and her shoes next to it. On the coffee table was her phone, an open bottle of wine and an empty glass.

Looking around, Leonard called out, "Penny, are you here?"

He heard a muffled, "Here, in the bedroom."

He laid the flowers on the coffee table, the boxes of Chinese food on the kitchen table, then walked quickly to the bedroom, which was dark. He again flipped a light switch on and saw Penny laying in bed. Her eyes were puffy, looking like she had been crying.

Leonard immediately became concerned, as he walked to the bed and sat on it, next to Penny. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Leonard," said Penny sounding agitated. "It was terrible. I sucked so much today. Everything I did was wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't find my spots," said Penny. "I couldn't walk in the right place, I stopped at the wrong place or the wrong time, I couldn't find my lines in script. I looked like an idiot out there today."

"OK, slow down," said Leonard. "What do you mean you couldn't find your spots?"

"When you move," said Penny, "you're supposed go to a specific spot, then stop and face a specific direction. The lights, the cameras are all placed, and we are supposed to move to a place where the lights and camera can see our face. I kept going to the wrong place, looking in the wrong direction, we had to keep doing scenes over and over because I couldn't hit my spots."

"Ok, calm down," said Leonard. "What about the walking in the right place and stopping?"

"The director tells you where you are supposed to walk," said Penny. "Like he would tell me to walk upstage of the couch, then move downstage to the chair. And I would walk downstage of the couch, moving right to the chair. That happened so many times. I was so busy trying to say my lines that I would forget where to walk."

"Then there was the timing. I was supposed to be at a certain place at a certain time, like when Jeannie stopped talking, but I would still be walking, and trying to say my lines. So, I was facing away from the camera at that time. When this happened, the director would yell at me to be facing the camera, because the microphones were in the direction too. See, I couldn't face the camera because I hadn't gotten to my place yet. Then I would try to find my lines, in the script, and stumble over lines or say the wrong line."

"I kept screwing up," said Penny, "and because of that, we probably spent almost three hours more than we should have. Jeanie was really nice about it. Dave didn't say anything, but Dana made a really snarky comment, trying to be funny I think, I just wasn't sure if he was serious."

"And the director was the worst. He just kept yelling at me, and telling me everything I was doing wrong. He had nothing good to say. He got really sarcastic, and I almost wanted to start crying, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction."

"Once I got home, I wanted to cry and let everything out, but I held off. Then, around seven, Kelli called. She was very short and just told me to be there at 8:30 in the morning. She wouldn't say why." Penny paused for a minute, "After she hung up, I just broke down. I think they want to fire me." Leonard could see tears forming in her eyes.

Leonard looked at her. "Come on," he said.

"What?"

"I brought dinner home," said Leonard. "We're going to eat. Then were going to move the living room around so it's like your set, and then we'll go over where and when you're supposed to walk, or sit, or stand. We'll keep going over it until you have it in your mind. That way, tomorrow, you'll be ready."

"But, why bother if they are going to fire me?"

"Then this doesn't matter," said Leonard. "But, that is not important, because if they don't fire you, you'll be much better prepared tomorrow. They will see you are working hard to get it right, which means you won't give them a reason to fire you."

Penny looked up at Leonard and smiled. Leonard reached out his hand, and Penny grabbed it and he helped her up. They walked out to kitchen table. Leonard said, "You get the plates and silverware, I'll get your bottle and glass of wine."

Penny went to the cupboard to get the plates, while Leonard picked up her glass and bottle, noticing the bottle was empty. He also picked up the flowers and, holding them behind his back, brought them to the table. Leonard put the bottle and glass down, while Penny had put the plates down. He touched her arm and she turned. He brought out the flowers, holding them in front of her. She was smiling and said, "Thank you Leonard, but what is the occasion?"

Leonard smiled and said, "It's Valentine's Day, so happy Valentine's Day."

Penny smile slipped a bit, "But, I didn't get anything for you."

"Don't worry about it," said Leonard. "I wanted to give you a good Valentine's Day, since it's our first one back together. Let's eat, then we can move the furniture around and get working on your moving around."

Penny wrapped her arms around Leonard, said, "Thank you, Leonard, I love you," then kissed him.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N Here is Tuesday's update. Yes, I know its Monday, but I may not be around Monday night, so early it is. And,** **besides, this way, I may put a chapter out Friday.**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Apt 4B, 8:15 AM, Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2012**

Penny had arrived by 8:15, as she didn't want Kelli and Jim to think she was blowing them off. She entered the sound stage, walking to the craft services table to get some coffee. She was just putting on the cover of her cup when Pamela Sonders came up. Penny knew she was one of the writers but she hadn't talked to her before.

As Pamela walked up she smiled and said, "You were pretty funny yesterday."

"What?" said Penny, surprised. "I stunk the place up yesterday. I couldn't hit my marks, I couldn't get my lines, the director was screaming at me. I sucked."

Pamela smiled at Penny, "Yes, you're right, but you've done how many multi-cam shows?"

"This is my first one," said Penny, "actually, it's my first show of any kind."

"So, you're learning," said Pamela. "When you did get everything going, you were hilarious. Don't worry, you'll get it."

"But, Kelli wants to see me this morning," said Penny. "Probably wants to fire me."

"Oh, I don't think so," said Pamela with a slight grin. "I think she'll keep you around."

Penny was going to ask why, when Kelli walked up. "Good morning Penny, how about we go to your dressing room, and we can talk there." And with that, Kelli turned and was walking toward the stairs.

Penny quickly followed and they were soon in Penny's dressing room, Penny sitting on the couch, and Kelli in one of the sofa chairs.

"So, Penny," said Kelli, "you are probably wondering why I brought you in early."

"Yes, I am," said Penny with a tremor in her voice. "Are you going to get rid of me?"

"No…what? Why would you think that?" said Kelli.

"Well, as bad as things were going with me yesterday," started Penny, "I just figured you wanted to get rid of me, and save all those problems."

Kelli chuckled, "Penny, we knew there would be growing pains with you. You don't just drop into the routine of a weekly series, especially with as little experience as you've had. Jeanie, Dave, and Dana have been doing this for years, they are familiar with all of this. Let me see your script."

Penny handed over her script.

"Just as I suspected," said Kelli, "why don't you have your lines marked?"

"Why would I mark up the script?"

"Penny," said Kelli, "the script is your guide, it has your lines in it. But, it also has everyone lines in it. You don't have to treat it like some holy relic, you can write notes in it. Most people highlight their lines in one color, and their cue lines in a different color. That way they know when their line is coming up, so they can be ready to say it."

A look of comprehension came over Penny's face, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

"See, if you are just waiting for your line, you'll be late with it. So get those lines marked, and it should be easier for you. As far as what you're doing here, just keep working as hard as you have been, be open to suggestions, like now, and you'll be fine. As far as Ron goes, he's doing this pilot as a favor. Our regular director will be Steven Fleming. He couldn't do the pilot, so we asked Ron. Pay attention to what he tells your, but you don't worry about his opinion of you."

Kelli paused, and Penny nodded.

"What you have to worry about, is what Jim and I think," said Kelli.

Kelli had said the last sentence very seriously, which caused a worried look to appear on Penny's face."

Kelli saw that so she quickly continued, "I know you haven't seen the recorded material from yesterday, it was just testing the camera angles, checking the lighting, all of that, so we didn't have a full taping to look at." She paused for a few seconds, then smiled, "When you got your lines right, and your positioning right, you were really funny. Your facial expression, and delivery are great, and god, your timing is so spot on. We really like what you're doing, acting wise, so keep doing it. All the mechanics of production will come to you, you'll pick up more the longer you do this. But, for the rest of it, the reasons we picked you for this role, you're doing fine."

Penny smiled. "Thank you, I was so scared when you asked me to come in early."

"Well," said Kelli, "we were worried about how your were taking it. You really looked lost out there and, at times, looked ready to cry yesterday."

"Yeah, I was," said Penny. "I just thought that with how bad I was doing, how much I was getting yelled at by Ron. I just thought that you would think it would have been better to just let me go and get someone else. I mean Ron was pretty hard on me and I couldn't tell if Dana was being serious or not. I don't think so, but I couldn't tell."

"No," said Kelli, "Dana wasn't being serious. He doesn't have the experience of doing a weekly show full time either. But, he has the advantage of having done spots on so many other shows. As for Ron, remember he's filling in for us. The hard time he's giving you is one reason he wasn't in the running for our regular director. Don't get me wrong, he's a great director, but he isn't as forgiving as Steven will be, and knowing you didn't have all that much experience, is one of the reasons we went with Steven, who, let me say, is also a fantastic director, a good teaching director. And that's why I called you in early, to tell you we, Jim and I, think you are doing fine."

"I did rehearse last night," said Penny "My boyfriend helped me set up my living room to look like this set and I went over and over it again. I didn't want to, thinking I was going to get fired, but he insisted, he said if I did get fired, it would be a waste, but if I wasn't fired, I would do better today."

"He sounds like a smart man," said Kelli.

"He is, he's got an IQ of over 170."

"Oh yeah, you have all those smart friends."

Penny nodded and said, "Thank you so much, Kelli."

"You're welcome, Penny. Keep working at it, like you did last night, and I'm sure you'll get it. We'll see you out there at ten." Kelli turned and walked out of her dressing room. Penny, feeling much better, headed down to the floor level, with her script and her travel mug.

She got to the craft services table, picked out some of the pieces of fruit and a bear claw. She also filled up her travel cup with coffee and took those things to a table in the camera bay. While she ate, Penny started color coding her lines. She decided on green for her lines, and yellow for her cue lines, those lines just before hers. While doing the highlighting, the rest of the actors and crew came in and were waiting around, in groups talking. Right at ten, Tina came out and asked for silence.

She explained the various scenes they would be doing for the rest of the day along with telling everyone they expected to be out around 3 PM. After that, she turned it over to Ron who explained what he wanted to work on, within those scenes. When he was done, he called Dave and Dana over to Dave's character's apartment, to work on that scene first. Penny took advantage of the extra time to walk through her movement and run her lines in her characters apartment.

At first, things went better for Penny. The different colors in her script helped her find her lines. Running over it with Leonard the previous night help cement where and when she was supposed to be during the scene. When she was sure, she could get to her marks, when she was supposed to be there.

But, more importantly, even if she wasn't sure, she could almost get to her marks on time, the little bit she was off, not mattering. If it did matter, she would remember where she should have been, and would get it right on the next take.

Ron was yelling a lot less at her, and even gave her a couple of compliments. The crew also, was doing a lot of laughing on her lines, and facial expressions, which made her feel good. The director continued to work on the early scenes, having the actors run them three or four times.

They broke for lunch, Penny choosing a salad with chicken breast and some green beans, with some tea. While she was eating, she exchanged a couple of texts with Leonard, first telling him everything was fine, and thanking him for insisting she run through things last night. She also told him she would explain everything when she got home. Just before restarting, Tina had brought over some changes to the script for the afternoon scenes.

When they shifted to working those later scenes, the ones with all the changes, Penny started struggling again. The changes didn't have her lines highlighted, she hadn't had time to mark them. And, since she didn't previously run through them, she was again struggling with her blocking.

At first Penny tried to hold the changes, and her script, but all she ended up doing was getting confused between them. Add to that she was trying to remember the changes to her blocking caused by the new pages, and the good feeling she had in the morning disappeared. She got so flustered at one point, she even left a new page on her chair, and was using the old page.

The director was again getting snippy and sarcastic with Penny, making Penny feel worse about the afternoon. But, she tried to remember Kelli's good comments to help her get through. The ran one scene several times, with Penny trying to remember what the director said after each take. It wasn't helping and finally, the director looked at Penny with disgust, shook his head, and said, "I guess this is as close as we're going to get." Looking directly at Penny he said, "We spent way too much time on this scene, let's move on and maybe get the next one done quicker?"

Penny was distraught, heading to her chair and collapsing onto it. She had been sitting in her chair for several minutes, when Jeanie came up to her. "Hey," Jeanie said, "You know you can unfasten the clips holding the script together, pull out the old page, put the new one in, and then re-fasten the clips."

Penny turned red, "No, I didn't. I didn't see anyway I could open or bend them."

"Here," said Jeanie, "let me show you." She took Penny's script, unscrewed the clips, remove the old page and put the new one in. It was only about thirty seconds until Penny's script, with the new pages installed, was back together. "I was trying to get to you earlier, but I had those scenes with Dave, so this was the earliest I could get here."

Penny smiled at Jeanie, "Thank you, I never thought about having to unscrew the fasteners, I've never seen these before." Penny looked around, "I've been struggling with all of this, I feel like I'm in way over my head. You make this all look so easy."

"Heheheheh," chuckled Jeanie, "I was where you're at not so many years ago. I know how it can be. How about we stick together and if you have questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them."

"Oh, thank you," said Penny. "That will be a big help."

"Well, you deliver your lines with such precise timing, and in a way that will make people laugh," said Jeanie, "and when you throw in those great facial expressions it's a sure thing people will be laughing. You almost have me laughing a lot of the time."

This brought a smile to Penny's face, and another "Thank you."

At that the two guys and the director came walking up from the other set, along with Tina and the various production people. After gathering everyone together Tina said, "That's it for today everyone, We'll all see you here tomorrow at 10 AM. We have the regular run throughs in the morning, and we only have a couple of pre-shoots tomorrow, and none of them will be at night, so we should get out of here well before six. See you all tomorrow."

Penny walked up to her dressing room, grabbed her bag, put her script and markers in it, and headed down the stairs to her car. Within 10 minutes, she was driving out of Warner Brothers, and heading home.

 **Apt 4B, 5:00 PM, Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2012**

Penny entered her apartment, she knew she had a couple of hours before everyone would be over. It was, after all new comic book night. They guys had planned to get home around seven, with carryout. She had planned to stay up late tonight, after everyone left, running her lines. But to do that, Penny decided, she needed to take a nap. So, she put her bag on the table, kicked off her shoes, and headed toward her bedroom.

 **Apt 4B, 6:30 PM, Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2012**

She felt lips on hers, she knew they were Leonard's, and she responded. After the kiss, still with her eyes closed, she asked, "What time is it?"

Leonard smiled and said, "It's 6:30. The guys are getting the food right now, and will be back shortly and Amy and Bernadette will be coming over around seven. I left a little earlier, so I could ask about your day before everyone got here. I take it they didn't fire you?"

Penny sat up, "No, they didn't. Will you go pour us a glass of wine, while I run to the bathroom. I'll tell you all about it."

"Sure, I'll meet you at the couch."

Five minutes later, they were both sitting on the couch sipping wine. "So," said Penny, "Kelli basically called me in to tell me that while I wasn't doing the best with the production mechanically, my line timing, facial expressions, you know, the things they hired me for, I was doing quite well. She also help me understand how to color code my lines so I know not only know what to say, but when to say it."

"I was doing good until we got changes in the script, I didn't color my lines in the changes, I didn't really have time. I also didn't put the changes in my script, so I was getting confused again, screwing things up. Jeanie helped me insert the changes at the end, by showing me how the fasteners worked, so I now know how to do that."

"So, they were happy with you?"

"Well, I don't think they were all that happy with me yesterday. But they were happy with my actual acting. I guess that's why they were trying to work with me so, they could keep me around."

"What do you have to do the rest of the week?" asked Leonard.

"Let's see," said Penny. "Tomorrow, we have a few more run throughs, then we have to shoot everything that needs to be pre taped. They said we should get out of there before six."

"Hey," said Leonard, "you want to go out for dinner on Friday."

Penny smiled, "How about we make if for tomorrow? On Friday we have some run throughs, we get a break for dinner, probably from craft services, then we tape the episode, everything that we didn't pre-tape. You are coming with me on Friday, right?"

"I was planning on going to the taping yeah," said Leonard. "That why I thought about dinner Friday. Are you inviting me to spend the day with you also?"

"Yeah," said Penny. "By the way, you can come in with me. I can get everyone else into the taping on Friday night. I'll tell them about it at dinner. If you come in with me, we can eat in my dressing room, you can bring your computer and use the wi-fi when I'm needed. And, when I'm not, I can take you down to watch what others are doing. You can watch the taping from my dressing room."

"That sounds like fun," said Leonard.

"It will be," said Penny, "I'll even try to bring you down to the floor, but it may only be at the end." Right then, they heard people in the hallway, and then a knock on the door. Leonard walked over and opened the door, finding Bernadette there. "They got the food," she said, "Amy and I walked up with them."

"OK, we'll be right over."

"See ya," said Bernadette as she turned and headed toward 4A.

Leonard turned, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "let's fill our glasses and head on over. I want to get back early so I can run over my lines and movement."

Penny headed toward the fridge, opened the door, and grabbed the bottle. Reaching the table, she filled both glasses, put the cork back in. Then, with Penny carrying the bottle, and Leonard the glasses, they headed over to 4A.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N OK, here is Thursday's update, so Neil has something to read on his flight. The next will probably be on Tuesday.**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Apt 4A, 7:00 PM, Wednesday, Feb 15th, 2012**

Everything was laid out on the coffee table, Leonard sitting in his chair, Penny in his office chair. Sheldon, Amy and Bernadette on the couch, with Howard on the end table next to Bernadette and Raj on the floor. There were a couple of pizzas, a couple of different kinds of pasta, a bowl of salad and bread.

There was small talk and talk about work, but Amy and Bernadette were eager to hear about Penny's week so far, so they steered the conversation by asking Penny questions about how her week was going. Penny told the group about the various things that happened so far, her struggles, the help she received, fittings, trying to remember everything that had happened.

But, what Penny really wanted to tell them was what was coming up on Friday, so she spoke up, "OK, what is everyone doing on Friday night?"

No one said anything, so Penny spoke up again, "Come on, what are all of you doing?"

Howard said, "I'm sorry Penny, but I was thinking. I was trying to remember if I had a telephone conference this Friday, but it's tomorrow. If it was next week I would be in Houston for some training and for survival training.

"Oh, sorry," said Penny. "Bernadette?"

"If Howard is free, I'm free. If he's not free, I'm still free."

"Cool, How about you Raj?"

"I'm free," said Raj. "I'm always free, I don't have anyone to worry about."

"OK, I've got Bernadette, one person trying to survive, and one sad person," said Penny. "Amy? Sheldon?"

"We're not doing anything," said Amy. "Date night is tomorrow."

Penny looked around at each of them. "How would you like to attend the taping of my show?"

There was a jumble of "really"s, "yes"s, and "That's great". They all looked excited, and Penny was smiling, until she heard, "Oh dear, why would we want to do that?"

Everyone turned to look at Sheldon. "I mean, Penny can't even remember my order at The Cheesecake Factory, so why would I want to watch her forget her lines on a television show?"

"Sheldon," said Amy, winking at Penny, "Penny is your friend, this is a big thing for her, you're going."

"No," said Penny, "if he doesn't want to go, I don't want him there."

"See," said Sheldon, "she doesn't want me, so I don't have to go."

"Penny," said Amy, "We'll both be there. Don't worry."

Penny winked at Amy, "What I'm getting all of you are what's called VIP tickets. There really aren't any tickets, you just go to the guard to where I tell you to go, and tell that person your name, you'll have to show an ID, and they will bring you to the studio."

"After the show, you can come down and I can show you around the set, and possibly introduce you to a couple of the stars. The guys know David from that superhero movie last month, and Amy and Bernadette will know Jeanie from 'Sex in the City'."

Everyone but Sheldon was nodding, taking turns thanking Penny and telling her it sounded exciting. Bernadette said, "Will Leonard be able to show us where we have to meet?"

"No," said Penny, turning to Leonard with a smile, "Leonard will be spending the whole day with me. When I have to work, he can stay in my dressing room, and sometimes down on the stage floor when I am working." She turned back to the group, "It's not hard to find, I can show you all on my computer, the guard at the gate can show you where you'll have to go."

The women went into the kitchen while the guys stayed in the living room, talking about comic books and a couple of the movies based on those. Amy and Bernadette pressed Penny for more details of how things were going and the various things she had to do, working on a TV show.

It was a couple more hours and then everyone pitched in to clean up and by 9:30 everyone was saying their goodbyes and leaving. Leonard and Penny were the last to leave and told Sheldon goodnight, and headed over to 4B.

Penny grabbed Leonard and kissed him. After some time, Leonard pulled back and said, "I thought you wanted to go over your script?"

Penny smiled at him, "I have other plans for tonight. I can get up and have breakfast with you, then go over the script when you leave for work."

Leonard smiled, "Then lets shut the lights off in here and head to the bedroom."

Penny was still smiling as she said, "You're a mind reader Hofstadter". She walked over to turn out the light in the kitchen, while Leonard turned to flip the switch to turn off the light in the living room. They both headed to the bedroom. Twenty minutes later, in his bedroom, Sheldon was grumbling and reaching over to get his noise cancelling headsets.

 **Apt 4B, 7:30 AM, Thursday, Feb 16th, 2012**

Penny was sipping her coffee at the table, reading over her script, when Leonard came out of the bedroom. He had his hoodie on, carrying his computer bag. He picked up his computer off of the table, and put it in the bag. He leaned over and kissed Penny, "I'll see you later. I'll be ready to head to dinner, whenever you get home."

She smiled, "OK, where are we going?"

"There's an Indian place over by The Cheesecake Factory called The All India Cafe," said Leonard. "I found it last year. Since we don't get Indian food anymore, because of Raj, I thought I'd take you there."

"Oh, that sounds good," a thought struck Penny, "near my work? Big windows, where you can see in to where people are eating? Their food is great, but it's very spicy?"

"Yeah," said Leonard, "I was there with…" He paused and got a worried look on his face, "Uh oh."

"Yeah, Uh oh, describes it very well, Hofstadter," said Penny that wolfish grin she got when she knew she had Leonard trapped. "And I know who you were there with, I interrupted that date, remember?"

"Uh, yeah. Ahhhhhh, maybe I'll find another place for tonight," said Leonard.

"That's a good call, Leonard," said Penny.

"OK, I'll see you then," he said, quickly turning to head for the door.

"Calm down, sweetie," said Penny with a chuckle, "it's OK."

"Er, ah, well, then, good luck today."

"I hope I don't need luck," said Penny. "That's why I'm studying the script. See you tonight."

Leonard walked out and closed the door, relieved Penny had let it go. Penny was still chuckling at the look on his face, after he left. She looked at the clock and figured she had another hour to study. She wanted to get her shower and leave by 9 AM. That way she would get there about 9:30 and that would give her time to get some coffee and study some more. She set the timer on her phone for an hour, and went back to looking at her script.

 **Stage 25, 9:35 AM, Thursday, Feb 16th, 2012**

Penny was sitting in her directors chair, sipping her coffee, looking at her script. She felt someone touch her arm, and when she looked up, Jeanie said, "Hi".

Penny smiled and said, "Hi, Jeanie, how you doing."

"Fair to middlin'," said Jeanie.

"What?"

"I said fair to middlin' said Jeanie with a smile.

"I don't get it."

Jeanie chuckled, "I like to use it because it confuses people, as most don't know what it means. It used to be used as a grade of cotton, but now, I use it to let people know I'm not doing good, but I'm not doing bad, I'm doing fair to middlin'."

"Oh, OK," said Penny, the puzzlement still in her voice was obvious.

"So," said Jeanie, "you ready to shoot your first scenes this afternoon?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure which ones."

"Here let me help you figure it out," said Jeanie. "You know that scene we have with our hair up?"

"Yeah."

"Look at the other scenes," said Jeanie, "We also have a scene with a dog. Those can be hard to tape with an audience, cause you can't be sure how the dog will react with an audience. So, we will probably tape all the dog scenes, Dave and I have a scene with the dog also, as do Dave and Dana, and the hair up scene."

"Why the hair up scene?"

"Because, if we do that scene today," said Jeanie, "We won't have to have our hair done quickly tomorrow. See, today they don't have to film in order. So, I can do the dog scenes, one with you, one with Dave. Then the guys can do their scene with the dog. "

"While they are doing their scene, we can go have them put up our hair, then we do the hair up scene. Tomorrow, we'll be able to get through the entire day without a hair change. Oh, they'll touch it up now and then, but we won't have to take all that time to put up our hair, then take more time taking it down."

"Ahhhhhh, I get it," said Penny. "That makes sense."

Just then, the production manager came up to the both of them. "Hi Jeanie, Hi Penny, here, I have script changes for each of you." She handed quite a few pages to each of them. "They are going to start with the guys, so you'll have some time, but there are a lot of changes."

Penny counted the changes and she had twelve new pages. Jeanie though, had nineteen. Penn saw Jeanie was already taking her script apart, to put the new pages in, so Penny, remembering how Jeanie showed her to do it, followed her example, and started taking her script apart.

They had just finished putting their scripts back together, when Tina, Kelli, Jim, and the director came up.

"OK, everyone," said Jim, "if this was a regular production week, this morning would be a quick run through. We'd spend some time to work those scenes with new pages, to set the blocking. Then we would do a complete run though, with costumes, and props, for the network censors."

"Then we would break for lunch, and right after lunch we would start in on those scenes we would need to pre-tape. As this is not a normal production week, for example we don't have to do a complete run though for the censors, we'll work the new scenes three or four times, then do a quick run through. We'll break for lunch, and after lunch, we'll start in with the pre-tape scenes."

"We don't have to rush, so there will be time for you all to grab something to eat, before we start the pre-taped scenes. We only have four scenes, Jeanie has two with the dog, one with Penny, one with Dave. Then there is the scene with Dave, Dana, and the dog. While were shooting that, Jeanie and Penny can get their hair put up, and then we can shoot the final scene between Jeanie and Penny." Jeanie looked at Penny smiling, Penny looked at her and just mouthed the word "Wow".

"So, we'll start working the new scenes in about 15 minutes. So grab some coffee, or study your scripts, or whatever you need to do to get ready and we'll start with the guys in their apartment, see you back here in about 15."

Penny sat in her director's chair, running through her script. She was desperately trying to rememorizes her lines and remember where she was supposed to move. When they started, it was Tuesday all over again for her. Her marks had changed, her lines had changed, her camera angles had changed, and she almost couldn't get any of it right. The only thing she got right was her lines, all nicely color coded, but she kept working on her movement and positioning, and finally got through the first scene, trying to ignore the comments from the director.

But, she again had trouble with the next scene and the director was getting frustrated with Penny. "Am I using too big of words for you to understand? Do you not know your left from your right? Upstage from downstage?"

Penny managed to finally get through a scene without problems, but with more changes in the next scene, her problems returned. This time the director was simply angry. "What is wrong with you?" he yelled at her, "Your mark moved six inches, and your last line only has three new words in it. I've had an easier time when I worked with babies. Get it together."

Jeanie could see that Penny was on the verge of tears. She called Tina over, whispered something to Tina, who then went to Kelli, who nodded. Kelli went and had a whispered, animated, conversation with the director. He still looked angry, but he nodded then practically spit out, "Take fifteen, everyone."

Jeanie quickly walked over to Penny and said, "Don't worry, you're getting it, he is just impatient." Penny nodded, and Jeanie continued, "Come on, lets get a cup of coffee."

Jeanie and Penny walked over to craft services, and they each poured a cup. Jeanie then walked them both over to one of the sets on one side of the audience seating, away from everyone else. Jeanie said, "You are doing fine, as far as the acting goes."

"Yes, you are a bit off as far as your marks are concerned, and you are so worried about that, that you are forgetting your lines. So here's what were going to do. As for your marks, watch me, when you move. I'll give you hints. If I lean to my left, you move left, same with right. If I turn my body, you turn your body in the same direction."

"But won't that put you in the wrong place?"

"Yeah, some, possibly" said Jeanie, "but, it won't be that bad, and I can make corrections before the camera returns to me. If I can't make it, in time, I know how to face in a way that if I'm off a bit, it won't be noticed."

"But how do you know my marks?"

"You basically have to be just to the left or right of the camera behind you," said Jeanie, "so I can be seen when I say my lines. Now, since you're going to watch me for your marks, let's work your lines for this scene, until they call us back. We'll have some time after this scene to go over the lines for your next scene."

Penny worked with Jeanie and she was able to get through the rest of the run through. The director told everyone to break for lunch and Penny headed over to craft services. She grabbed a salad for lunch and then studied her lines some more, while she ate. When Tina told everyone to get ready for the pre-tape scenes, Penny went to her dressing room to change. She returned and found she was the first one on set. She sat in her chair and studied her lines some more.

Once everyone was there Tina said, "We're going to start in about 5 minutes, so get ready." First off, they did the scene with Jeanie and Dave, with the dog. They did that twice, then moved on to the scene with Jeanie and Penny with the dog. This went rather smoothly for Penny, as she basically sat on their couch for the whole scene.

Everyone shifted to Dave's character's apartment for their scene, while Jeanie and Penny had their hair put up. While that was going on, Penny and Jeanie again worked on Penny's lines and movement. This really helped Penny and she got through the second pre-taped scene twice, and was able to give a different interpretation each time, without any problems. But, even with that, the director was either sarcastic or snarky with her.

Tina told everyone to go ahead and change and meet here after they were done. Penny was the first one down, looked for the director, but didn't see, she simply sat in her chair and waited for everyone else. Once everyone was there, Jim started speaking and told everyone that the scenes looked great, both on the monitor and in person, and he was looking forward to the taping tomorrow.

Penny could see Kelli was pointedly looking at her and nodding. Penny thought back to the conversation she had had with Kelli. Then Tina was telling everyone to be in at ten AM on Friday and said everyone was free to leave. Penny said goodbye to Jeanie and started for the door.

Kelli stopped her and said, "Penny, that last part was for you. You looked really great on-screen."

Penny smiled and said, "Thank you, I'll see you tomorrow." Penny turned and headed for the door.

 **Annapurna Grill, 6:30 PM, Thursday, Feb 16th, 2012**

"It was so terrible," said Penny. "The director was flat out yelling at me, making just nasty comments, telling me he had it easier with babies. I was so embarrassed I just wanted to find a hole to crawl into."

Leonard could see the anger on Penny's face. "But, you obviously made it through."

"Yeah," said Penny, "thanks to Kelli and Jeanie. Kelli keeps telling me I'm fine, Jeanie helped me with my moves and marks. I swear, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to make it through today."

"On the bright side," said Leonard, "you told me this director won't be there if the show makes it to TV, so you won't have to deal with him."

"If I can make it through tomorrow," said Penny. "Jeanie said she'll help me so I hope it will be easier. I don't think the director can yell as much if there is an audience, at least I'm hoping he can't yell at me as much."

"I also want to go over my movements and lines tonight," said Penny, "will you help me?"

Learned grinned, "Of course, lets get desert and then we can head home to work on your lines and movement."

Penny grinned back at Leonard, "Thanks, I really do appreciate it."

Leonard smiled and said, "I know."

Penny stuck her tongue out at him.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N Some of the experiences here, and in the next chapter are basically a combination of my experiences at a Big Bang taping, along with comments by others who have attended and other comments from the cast and crew as to what occurs during a taping, with some minor artistic license changes. If you have gone to a taping, a quick comment in a. review or a PM letting me know how close I got would be appreciated. Oh yeah, a Tuesday publish can be a Monday night publish. Finally, since I haven't done a disclaimer yet, and this is the tenth** **chapter (remember the prologue), here it is. I don't own the characters, those belong to either the creators of TBBT or the original author,(Well, there are a few, Kelli and Jim for example). Hell, I don't even own the overarching plot. Have fun.**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Warner Brothers Studio, 9:15 AM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012**

Penny pulled up at gate number 3, she gave her name, Penelope Jensen. The guard checked his sheet and nodded, then he asked about Leonard. Penny explained he was with her, and that he would get a guest pass on set, and the guard raised the gate.

Penny drove to Stage 25, and found a parking place. They both had their bags with them. Leonard had his computer, and several pads of paper and pencils to work on his detection idea. Penny had her computer and also her wallet, script and some makeup. They got out of the car and Leonard followed Penny to a door.

Penny entered, with Leonard following and she made her way to the camera bay in front of the set. Penny was looking for Tina and found her talking to one of the cameramen. Her and Leonard walked up and waited until Tina was finished, and the camera man left, before Penny said, "Hi, Tina, can you help me?"

"Sure, what do you need?" said, Tina looking at her clipboard.

"This is my boyfriend," said Penny. "Dr. Leonard Hofstadter, and I need a guest badge for him."

"A doctor, Penny?" said Tina. "Way to go. Nice to meet you Leonard." She shook Leonard's hand.

Penny smiled and said, "Not that kind of Doctor. He has his PhD and works at Caltech."

"I'm not sure if I should be even more impressed," said Tina, looking at Leonard. "He must be one of those smart guys. Is he going to be here all day?"

"Yes," said Penny, "he'll be up in my dressing room for the morning run throughs, although I may bring him down to let him see what goes on here on and around the set. We'll eat lunch together, and then he'll be in my dressing room when we shoot. I'll bring him down after the show."

"That sounds good," said Tina. "How do you spell that."

Penny spelled his name for Tina.

Tina said, "Give me a few minutes and I'll get one for him."

"We'll be up in my dressing room," said Penny, "can you bring it up?"

"I'll get one of the interns to run it up."

"Ok, see you later," said Penny. "Come on Leonard, let's get some coffee and head up to my dressing room."

After getting to her dressing room, she turned on the TV. They both took out their computers, and signed into the stage Wifi. She took her script out, and was looking it over. Leonard found the Caltech work website, and signed in, and finding his files, started working. There was a knock on the door and an intern gave Penny Leonard's guest badge.

She gave Leonard the badge then said she was leaving and headed down to the set. Penny was sitting in her chair, going over her script, when she felt someone giving her a hug. She turned and found Jeanie smiling at her. "You ready for your first taping?"

Penny smiled back, "Yes, I am, but I'm so nervous."

"Don't worry," said Jeanie.

"I suppose I shouldn't be, but without your help, I…"

"You'll be fine," said Jeanie.

"I hope so, I was…"

"All right everyone," said Tina loudly, as she walked up. "Jim and Kelli will be here shortly. I just want to go over what we will be doing today."

"First, we'll run the show a couple of times. After a break, we'll work any scenes the director wants to work. Or possibly rework, if there are changes. Around one, we plan on breaking for lunch, then another run through and then you are free to do whatever until four thirty and we'll have a short break for dinner."

"At 5:15 we'll do a speed through and if you have concerns, we'll talk about it," said Tina. "At 5:30, the actors will start in on makeup and hair and they will start allowing the audience to enter. At 6:30, we'll start the taping. We will introduce the producers to the audience, and after that, the actors."

"Please when you're introduced, come out from behind the screen, bow, then move to your right, and when you get to the person that is already there, turn to the audience and bow again. After the producers and creators, we'll introduce you in this order, Penelope first, then Dana, then Dave, then Jeanie. After that, you will all come back behind the curtain, and we'll head into the first scene."

"We'll do the show in order," said Tina. "The scene sheet will be on the note boards behind the set and on one below the audience, in the center. We will also have one each near the top and bottom of the stairs. Of course, those scenes we shot yesterday, will be played over the monitors here, so we can record the audience's reaction. So, make sure you know where those scenes are, so if you're in a scene after, you are ready. Any questions?"

There were none and it was a few minutes before Jim and Kelly came out. Jim spoke, "I want to thank everyone for the work they've put in. I've got a good feeling about this, I had a couple of network execs here the other day and they were laughing and were very positive. So, keep doing what you have been doing. I'm looking forward to this. Break legs everyone."

Ron came up. "OK, we're going to start with the guy's scene. I hope everyone has their lines and blocking down," he said, looking directly at Penny. "We'll start in five minutes."

The voices from the television startled Leonard. The picture had been on, but there had been no sound, so Leonard had assumed there was only a video link. He didn't realize that they sound guys hadn't turned on the sound yet.

He looked up to see someone talking to two guys. He assumed the two guys were the actors, as he recognized Dave. He figured the guy telling them what to do, must have been the director, so that left the third guy as Dana. The director backed out of the scene, and he saw the two actors go through the scene. They stopped and the director came back into the scene, and spoke with them briefly. He then backed out, and the two actors ran the scene again. Leonard could see a couple of minor changes. Then he heard the director say, "Ok, let's move on."

Leonard watched the scene change and he could see Penny and Jeanie on the monitor. It struck Leonard as a bit strange to see Penny on the TV, as if she was in a show. Then he shook his head, he thought _she is in a show_. He would have to get used to this, but he was happy for her. He saw the director come into view and talk to both of the women. Then, they pretty much went through the same process as they did for the first men's scene.

Leonard continued to watch the rehearsal on the screen, forgetting all about his work on the computers. He thought he was missing something as there were times the whole show seemed to skip parts, or refer to something he hadn't seen. _I'll have to ask Penny about it._ After about an hour, he heard from somewhere off camera, "All right everyone, be back in about a half hour."

About a minute later, Penny came through the door. Leonard smiled at her and said, "That was interesting, watching you on the television. I have to say, I laughed quite a few times at you. You would say the line, and when you would add something with your expression, I couldn't stop myself from laughing."

Penny smiled at Leonard, "You were watching?"

"Yeah," he said, "I heard the voices on the TV and just started watching. Although, I have to say it's a bit strange to see you on TV, like you are in a show."

"I am in a show."

Leonard shook his head, "I know, I told myself that, but I'm not used to it."

Penny smiled and grabbed his hand, "Come on, let's go get some coffee and a roll."

Penny took him downstairs, to the craft services table, and they each grabbed a bear claw and a fresh cup of coffee. They were sitting in a couple of the audience's seats. Leonard brought up the parts he thought they skipped. Penny said, "That was our pre-tape. We shot those yesterday and they'll be played back tonight, so they can capture the audience reaction. But there's no need to redo those, as those have already been shot."

Penny suddenly said, "Do you want to sit here for the next run through?"

"I thought you said I couldn't watch it from here."

"Well, as long as you don't say anything, you'll be fine," said Penny. "You see Jeanie and that older guy sitting with her?" Leonard looked around, nodded, then Penny continued, "That's her dad, he's going to watch from here so I don't think there is a problem with you sitting here, as long as you keep quiet."

"What if I laugh?" asked Leonard.

"Oh, that will be fine," said Penny, "the crew laughs also, just don't be talking while we're running the scene."

Leonard nodded and said, "I can do that."

At that, over the address system, they heard, "Everyone come to the men's apartment. We're ready for the next run though and we have some notes."

Penny said, "Gotta go," and she headed off.

Leonard sat in the audience section, watching first the director, then Jim tell each of the actors something about what they had done during the first run through. Then they started the next run through, with Leonard watching. He decided it was easier to watch it from the dressing room, as he couldn't see the scenes as good.

Oh, the women's apartment was in front of him he could see that better. But the guy's apartment and the other sets had walls separating them, so he couldn't see everything and had to use the monitors. But those weren't as close as the monitor in the dressing room. Of course, Penny could, and did, come to him and talk in between scenes, which she couldn't do if he was in the dressing room, so in that way, it was better.

Leonard saw everyone gather around and Tina speak to them. After Tina finished, Penny walked over and said, "Let's go." They both walked to her dressing room.

Penny sat down and said, "We have a few hours. The writers want to work on some things, so we have a three hour break before we have to do anything. Part of that three hours is lunch."

"Wow, three hours, why do they want to work on things?"

"The writers want to change a couple of things, so we don't have to be back until three. It's just instead of getting a break around three, we'll get a longer one now. Anything you want to do, now? I'm going to try and get a nap in around two."

"I'm going to work on my project for now," said Leonard. "Let me know when you want to get lunch."

 **Warner Brothers Studio, 1:30 PM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012**

Penny had been going over her script, while Leonard worked on his project. It was time for lunch and Penny thought about the craft services table, but then thought it would be fun for Leonard to go to the commissary on the lot, so that is where they went for lunch. They both got their lunch, and Leonard found it interesting to look around and see all the different people, in costume, as he wondered what movies or TV shows they were working on.

After lunch, both Penny and Leonard went back to her dressing room and laid down, Penny on the couch, Leonard on a blanket on the floor and they tried to take a nap. At 2:45, Penny's alarm on her phone went off, and they both got up. Penny headed down to the set, while Leonard tried to work on his project, and wait for her to return. When she did come back, she looked worried. "What's wrong?" asked Leonard.

"I've got five new pages of script I have to relearn," said Penny, "but in ten minutes, I have to go down and rehearse the changes. By the time we get done with rehearsing, I'll only have about an hour, and most of that will be for running through other scenes. I'll never get it."

"I can hel…"

"No Leonard," said Penny testily, "You can't help. I'll spend most of that hour on set, so you can't help. I've got to go." And with that, Penny headed out of the door.

 **Warner Brothers parking structure, 5:15 PM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012**

Bernadette pulled up to the guard, and rolled down her window. "What's your purpose?" the guard asked.

"Were here to attend a taping of our friend's show. She said we all have VIP tickets," Bernadette pointed to the other four in the car.

The guard nodded, "You see that guard over there, by those benches?" he said pointing across the exit lane.

Bernadette nodded, and the guard continued, "Go find a parking place and then go to that guard, he'll check your names and get you to the set." He pushed a button and the gate went up, and Bernadette drove through, looking for a parking place.

Ten minutes later the five of them were walking down the ramp, toward the guard by the benches. Bernadette sounded frustrated and angry. "Just be quiet Sheldon, I don't care that you called shotgun before Howard did. It's our car, and my fiancé was going to sit in the front seat, not you."

Sheldon started to say something, but a cross look from Bernadette kept him quiet. They got to the guard, and Bernadette explained why they were there. They all handed the guard an ID, but there was some problem with Sheldon, until he got out his Caltech ID. It seems the guard wouldn't accept his Justice League ID and Sheldon wanted to argue with him.

After checking all the IDs, the guard provided them with a wrist band and then called for transport. It was a couple of minutes until two electric golf carts appeared. Amy and Sheldon got in one, Howard, Bernadette, and Raj got into the other and the carts headed across the street, heading for gate three.

The guard there waved them through and they drove for a couple of minutes. Getting to a very large structure, with a placard with STAGE 25 on it, they could see Penny's car. The carts slowed and stopped besides the structure, and they got off the cart. Looking at the building, they saw a large garage type door, with what looked like a smaller regular door, and a guard next to it. They showed the guard their wristbands, and he opened the smaller door, letting them into the building.

They were met by a woman with a vest, who checked their wristbands, and who then led them to the front row, just slightly off to the right of the central walkway in the stands, the women's apartment was right in front of them. They sat down, looking around watching various people scurrying around on the set, doing whatever it was they were doing. The group settled in and waited for the show to start.

 **Warner Brothers, 5:15 PM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012**

Penny was in a panic. Trying to get all the lines and movement memorized, she felt that they were all jumbled up in her mind. But she had to leave. She got up, taking her script with her, and walked to Leonard.

"I've got to go," said Penny. "We have a speed through, then I have make up. I'll be back every so often, to change into my costumes"

Leonard could sense she was nervous, "You'll do fine, Penny. I have confidence in you."

Penny smiled weakly, "I'm glad someone does. Wish me luck."

"Break a leg," said Leonard.

"Oh, you know that."

"Yeah, I do," said Leonard. "Go get them, Penny."

Penny said, "Thanks sweety," then she kissed Leonard and walked out of the door.

Leonard settled in to wait for the show to start.

Penny went to the makeup room. There, she found six chairs, but there was only five actors appearing tonight. Four, of course, were for the four main stars, the other was a small part for a guest star. They all sat down and started going through the show, saying their lines as fast as they could. They all tried not to use their scripts, and the only place they slowed down, and referenced the scripts, was where they had gotten new pages earlier in the afternoon.

After finishing, the makeup artists started applying their makeup. Penny was asked to bring the two costumes for the first part of the show, down from her dressing room. She ran up to get them, told Leonard she would see him during the break and brought them down.

She went behind a curtain put up in the makeup room, hung up her second outfit, and put on her first. After that, the makeup person touched up her makeup, and she made her way to small area between the Dave's and the women's apartment.

The other three actors were there. The announcer was making announcements and introducing the producers and director. Jeanie said, "Come, put your hands here in the middle." The four of them did that, and Jeanie said, "Let's kick ass."

Dave said, "Break legs everyone."

Dana said, "Let's go get it."

Penny had no idea what to say, she looked around at the three people who had helped her this week and she simply said, "Thank you all for making this so easy for me."

The other three smiled, but before they could say anything, Penny heard the announcer say, "Playing the part of Jessica Rodgers, is a newcomer, please give an enthusiastic welcome to Penelope Jensen." Penny took a deep breath, smiled at the other three, then turned and went through the curtain, to the applause of the crowd.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N The storm (Florence) has forced us to leave early our friend's house (in southern Viginia) early, so I want to get this out before we leave. See the previous A/N for some notes about this chapter.**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Warner Brothers Studio, 6:30 PM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012**

Penny came out from behind the curtain, bowed, and moved to her right. The lights were up on the audience, almost all were clapping and cheering. She could see her friends off to her left and waved to them, all but Sheldon waved back. Penny started waving at all the other audience members as she moved to stand next to Kelli and did her second bow.

The other three stars were introduce, ending with Jeanie standing right in front of the opening in the curtain. The announcer, asked everyone to give one more big cheer, and the stars waved one last time and headed back behind the curtain.

Penny and Jeanie walked over to their apartment, while David and Dana went to theirs. The dividers and curtains were removed from the guys apartment, and they started their scene. They went through the scene twice, and after the second time, the director yelled cut, and the dividers and curtains were put back into place. The lights came up over the audience and the announcer started telling jokes, threw out some candy and generally tried to keep the audience in a good mood.

While all this was going on, the cameras and about twenty of the production people moved over to the right as the audience watched. After several minutes, the curtain and dividers were removed, showing the audience the women's apartment. The gang was excited to see Penny, standing behind the kitchen island, while her co-star was in what looked like the living room. That was where each of them started the scene.

Penny was nervous, wondering if she had all her lines, and didn't want to make mistakes with the audience there. She was also thinking about the director, and though she said she didn't think he could yell at her, she was afraid he might. She was jolted back to the taping as the audience lights went down. The director made sure everyone was in place and called "action" and the women started their scene.

After a few lines, Penny messed up one of her lines. She stopped, and started to panic, then remembered the line and indicated they should keep going. The director agreed, and they re-started the scene, with Penny walking into the living room. The scene ended and the producers and the director walked into the living room and were talking with Penny and Jeanie.

While they were doing that, the announcer was again telling jokes, which most of the audience chuckled at. The director and producers walked away, and the announcer, as he had with the guy's scene, quieted the audience and then told them to try and react like they were hearing it for the first time.

The scene started and Penny started struggling in the same place. She stammered a couple of times and then yelled, "Shit." The audience laughed, but the director didn't look happy, and was about to say something, when a woman, the script supervisor, ran up to Penny with a script, letting her look it over.

In the audience, Sheldon leaned over to Amy and whispered, "See, what did I tell you about her forgetting her lines, because she forgets my…"

"Sheldon, be quiet," Amy hissed.

Penny looked at the script, nodded and took a deep breath. The woman with the script ran off. Although the director still didn't look happy, he had them reset and started the scene again. They were almost to the end of the scene when Jeanie messed up her lines, and shouted loudly, "Fuck." Again the audience laughed and Penny broke up. Again, the woman with the script ran up, but Jeanie waved her away saying, "I got it."

They went back to where Penny was walking into the living room and restarted. This time, Penny and Jeanie got through the scene with no problems, and at the end, the director yelled "Cut, that's great, let's just move on."

This went on for the next hour. The actors would come out, they would do a scene, talk it over with the producers and director, then redo the scene a second time. Several times, the writers were called in, and after a few minutes, they gave the actor another line, and they taping continued.

In between all of this, the announcer continued his patter, his jokes, and his magic tricks. He would also ask audience members to come up and sing, or dance. What he was trying to do was to keep the audience entertained, keep them involved, keep their energy up.

At one point, at the end of a sweet scene, most of the audience said "Awwwwwwww" loudly. The actors and director got together, and someone else walked up to the group. The director nodded, then walked over to the announcer, and whispered to him. The announcer then said they had to do it again, and they didn't want the sound on tape, so he asked the audience to refrain from saying awwwwwwww. So they had to run that scene three times.

The gang, even Sheldon, was enjoying the show, all the other activity, and the announcer's jokes and tricks in between. Howard volunteered to get up, and instead of singing or dancing, did some sleight of hand magic tricks. The audience cheered Howard after each of his tricks and even the announcer seemed impressed.

They had just finished the eighth scene, when the studio pages brought down some large boxes to each of the end walkways, and started passing out bottles of water. After that, the pages brought more boxes, and passed out containers with a piece of pizza in them. By the time everyone had finished eating, and the trash had been passed back to be put in the large boxes, it had been about 30 minutes. The announcer then said it would be about 10 minutes before the taping started again.

As soon as Penny had finished the scene before the break, she rushed up to her dressing room and found Leonard looking at the TV. "So, what did you think?" Asked Penny apprehensively.

"Looks interesting," said Leonard, "it looks a lot like what I saw during rehearsals, although I see you messed up at the beginning.

"Yeah," said Penny, "but Jeanie messed up and I kinda relaxed and I quit worrying about myself messing up."

"Well, except for that, you did everything else right, and I think you're doing a great job."

"Thank you Leonard," said Penny smiling."

"What's going on now?"

"It's break time," said Penny. "We get a few minutes to get something to eat, and relax. You want to come down with me to grab something?"

"Sure."

Leonard and Penny went to the food table and each took a small sandwich, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. They found a place away from everyone and sat down on the floor. It took them only about fifteen minutes to eat and when they finished, Leonard asked, "How are you felling?"

"Like I said, better after Jeanie messed up," said Penny. "But, I'm still feeling nervous before we start each scene."

He rubbed her arm, "I think you're doing well, so don't be nervous."

Penny said, "Can you head on up to my dressing room, by yourself? I want to run over the changes we got today, make sure I have them memorized."

"I know the way," said Leonard. He hugged Penny, and headed toward the stairs. Just as he got to the first step, he heard, "Hi Leonard."

He turned to find Tina smiling at him. He smiled back, "Hi Tina, how's the taping going?"

"Going great," said Tina, "your girlfriend is killing it tonight."

"She is?" said Leonard questioningly. "I told her she was doing good," then he confided, "but I really don't know anything about making a TV show. She really is doing good?"

"Oh, yeah," said Tina, "she is. Jim and Kelli are laughing like crazy."

"Maybe I should tell her," said Leonard, "she'll feel better."

"No," said Tina, "don't you dare. She's doing fine just the way she is."

"But…"

"No, Leonard," said Tina, "just leave her be. Now, where are you going?"

"Back up to the room," said Leonard. "She wanted to go over her script before you all started again."

"You can sit down here," said Tina as she led him over to some chairs. She pointed, "If you look over there, you can see the monitors, if she's not in the apartment in front of you. You can sit here, if you promise to stay here for the rest of the show."

"But what happens if she sees me? You don't want her to know about how she doing, isn't this as bad?"

"No problem," said Tina, "I'll tell her where you're sitting so it won't surprise her. As long as she knows you're here, it shouldn't bother her, and she'll probably be concentrating too much to really notice. Now go ahead and sit, I have to run."

"Thanks," said Leonard as he settled into the chair.

Penny was sitting on the couch, in the women's apartment set, going over her script, when Jeanie came over and sat down next to her. "How are you doing?" asked Jeanie.

Penny smiled, "Getting through it. I thought I was going get yelled at when I messed up my lines, so thank you for screwing up also."

Jeanie lightly slapped Penny's arm, laughing, "You're welcome, as though that was why I did it."

Penny smiled and said, "I have even more lines coming up, so I thought I'd better go over them again."

"Yeah," said Jeanie, "I have to go over mine also." At that, Jeanie reached behind the back cushion, on the couch, and pulled out her script.

Penny looked dumbfounded, "You mean your script has been there all night?"

Jeanie smiled, "Well, yeah, when we have scenes in here. This way, it's close and no one can see it when we shoot."

Penny chuckled, "I'll have to remember that. I've been trying to remember where I put this thing all night."

Tina walked up, "Hey, Penny, I caught Leonard on his way up to your dressing room. I told him he could sit over by where the hair and makeup people usually sit."

"Won't that keep some of them from sitting there?"

"No, there are a couple of extra chairs, so he won't be in the way. He was worried that you might see him as the taping was going on and get distracted, so I told him not to worry about it, I would come over here to tell you, so you're not too surprised when you see him."

Penny looked surprised.

"Yeah, just like that," laughed Tina, with Jeanie joining in the laughter, "but it's better you do it now, rather than when we're taping."

Penny just nodded and said, "Thanks."

"We'll be starting in about five minutes." Tina turned and walked away.

Just as Tina said, five minutes later the taping resumed. The guys were doing a scene on one of the extreme side sets, Dave's office, if Penny remembered correctly, so Jeanie and Penny were able to sit on the couch, and continue to study their scripts, as their next scene would be in the apartment.

The crew came back, and started setting up the apartment. Penny and Jeanie got into their places, the curtain was removed, the director said, "Action," and the scene started. They were about halfway through the scene, when there was a moment of silence and Jeanie started laughing. The audience started laughing and the director yelled, "Cut. What the hell happened?" he asked.

Jeanie was still laughing, and Penny said, "I don't know, I went up for a second, and she started laughing."

"So you forgot your line again?" said the director, frowning.

Penny ignored him as she looked at the script she was being showed by the script supervisor.

Sheldon leaned over to Amy, but before he could say anything, Amy shushed him.

Jeanie, still smiling, said, "Her face, when she forgot her line was sooooo, funny, sorry. Let's go."

They restarted the scene, and this time, Jeanie stumbled on her lines and again started laughing. Penny couldn't hold it back and she started laughing too, which got the audience laughing and again the director cut the scene. He really looked angry, but they finally calmed down and got through the scene on the third attempt.

After the crew went for the next scene, Penny and Jeanie spent the next few moments giggling. The rest of the taping went on without any problems. Penny completed her final scene, Dave and Jeanie had one more, and went to the curtain and called to Leonard, waving him over. As he got to the curtain she pulled him through and led him to the apartment set and they sat on the couch together, waiting for the last scene to be over.

In about five minutes, the announcer was again introducing the actors and the producers. Penny went out for her bow, and after the rest of the actors came out, bowing and waving at the audience, they all went behind the curtain. The actors formed a circle congratulating each other then broke the circle. Penny ran over to Leonard, and with a big smile, pulled him into a hug.

The audience cheered for several more minutes and then began quieting down and leaving. As Penny had instructed them, the gang walked down to the far right corner of the stands, near the steps down to the stage and waited. The curtains went up, the dividers were removed, the lights came on and Penny and Leonard walked over to the group. Penny said something to the guard, who opened the gate and the gang walked down the stairs to the stage floor.

Amy and Bernadette immediately hugged Penny and congratulated her. Howard and Raj both congratulated her, and Sheldon said, "I didn't think you could remember all the lines, after all, you can't remember my orders."

Penny just smiled and said, "Thank you, Sheldon."

Sheldon looked confused, but Penny said, "Thank you, all of you. I'm glad you came."

Bernadette said, "We wouldn't have missed it. We're all proud of you. You were so funny, the way you said your lines, your facial expressions, all of it."

Everyone, even Sheldon, nodded, and Sheldon said, "I recognized the sarcasm in your lines, it was funny, he he."

"How do you feel, Penny?" asked Bernadette.

"Relief," said Penny, "I was so nervous, and I think I did a good job. I didn't screw up all that much and Jeanie mess up as much as I did. So I really feel good about it."

Penny took them over to their apartment set, and was showing them the different decorations used in the set. She took them behind the set and they were amazed that the walls that looked so solid, were simply plywood and two by fours for framing. She brought them back through the door and led them to the front of the set, where they were standing talking.

Jeanie was walking by. "Jeanie," said Penny lightly grabbing her, "these are my friends, Bernadette and Amy. The guys are Rajesh, Howard, and Sheldon. They all came to watch the show."

"Nice to meet all of you," said Jeanie with a smile, "I hope you enjoyed the show."

Bernadette nodded, "Yes, we did. And, I just want to say I loved you in "Sex in the City."

"Me too," said Amy, "me too, I want to say it too. Penny got me interested in "Sex and the City" and I…"

"I'm sorry," said Jeanie with a smile, "I don't mean to be rude, but I've got to go," Turning to Penny she said, "I've got my own friends to meet. It was nice meeting all of you. See you in a bit, Penny."

"Yes, about five or ten minutes I would guess," said Penny. "Guys, I've got to go change, and then we have to meet with the producers, so I've got to go. I just want to thank you all for coming and I'll talk to all of you next Tuesday, Okay?"

Penny started walking away, pulling Leonard with her. She turned and waved, saying, "See you all later. Remember to show your wrist band and they'll get you a ride." The other five said, "Bye," and waved, and Leonard and Penny returned the wave, as they headed toward the stairs.

As they walked up the stairs, Leonard, said, "Congratulations Penny, I think you did great. You were so funny."

"Thank you Leonard, but you're supposed to say that."

"Tina told me that also," said Leonard.

"What?"

"Yeah," said Leonard, "Tina said Kelli and Jim were laughing like crazy, said you were killing it."

Penny was glad Leonard had told her, she was feeling proud now.

Ten minutes later, Penny was waiting with the rest of the crew and actors, when Jim and Kelli came walking over. They waved everyone over and after they gathered, Jim said, "Great Job everyone, it went very well. Overall were very satisfied with the result, so far. There were a couple of rough spots, but we'll see how it goes after the editing is done."

"For now, we've had some food and drinks delivered and we'll be hanging around for a while. Feel free to come and talk to us, ask questions, tell us how you felt it went. We'll be here for a couple of hours. For now, enjoy it, you've all earned it."

Penny and Leonard went and got some food and a couple of glasses of wine and sat down at the kitchen table in the women's apartment. Several of the crew came by congratulating Penny on the job she did, telling her how funny she was. The makeup person came by telling Penny how lovely she looked, even with her makeup off, and how she was looking forward to working with her.

David came by, giving Penny a hug. Penny turned and pulled Leonard over. "Dave," said Penny, "this is my boyfriend Leonard. He works at Caltech, he's an experimental physicist, and he's also a big nerd. Superhero comic books and movies. He recognized you from that movie last year."

"Capt…Capt…Capt Avery," stammered Leonard, "it's, ah, its, oh, shoot, it's an honor to meet me, sir. No, not meet me, it's an honor to meet you. Er, I, um, I…"

"It's an honor to me you, Leonard," said Dave. "Penny's told me a lot about you. I'm glad you recognize me, and call me Dave."

"Oh, yes, Capt…er…Dave, I would know you anywhere," said Leonard. "When Penny told me that you were going to be in her show…"

"Calm down Leonard," said Penny. "It's not my show."

"It may be," said Dave. "You have a certain presence, that shows up on screen. I was watching some of your work on the monitor. When I saw you there, it was different from watching you live. On screen, you kinda pop. Your timing is just so great, and those facial expressions, good god, I wish I could do that."

Penny blushed, "Thanks Dave, I'm just trying to keep up with you and Jeanie. I'm not sure I belong here."

"You, do," said Dave, "don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You may still be struggling a bit with the mechanics, but don't worry, those will come with time, as you learn more. Keep up the good work. Leonard, it was nice to meet you, and I hope to see more of you. I've got to talk to Jim before I leave, so see you later. Great Job, Penny." Dave gave Penny a hug, shook hands with Leonard and then headed off.

"He seems to be a nice guy," said Leonard.

"Oh, he is, he was telling me…"

Penny paused, Kelli was walking up, "Hi Penny, can we talk about how and what you did tonight?"


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N To quote Chuck Lorre, "I got nuthin'"**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Warner Brothers Studio, 10:15 PM, Friday, Feb 17th, 2012**

Leonard could see a worried look on Penny's face as Kelli approached. "I did all right, didn't I," said Penny.

Kelli smiled, "Yes, you did fine. Actually more than fine. That's why I wanted to talk to you. You were a big wildcard for us. We didn't know you, you really don't have a lot of experience, and you haven't been in a well known training program, so using you was a bit of a gamble for us."

"Well," said Penny with a shy smile, "thank you for picking me."

"To be honest, I wasn't really sold on using you," said Kelli with a smile after seeing Penny's reaction. "You'll have to thank Jim for pushing for you. He said he saw something in you, that made you perfect for the role, and he was right. You read your lines as if sarcasm is a second language for you."

Penny nodded, "It is, kinda. I'm pretty sarcastic in my real life." She chuckled, "Ask Leonard." Leonard was nodding his head.

"But you also have those facial expressions," said Kelli. "Your sarcastic lines come across so genuine, then you nail the facial expressions, and that just cements the whole thing. I do want to ask you, have you had any comedy training?"

"Not really," said Penny, "almost all of my acting training has been in drama."

"So how do you hit all those timing marks?"

"Well," said Penny, "You know I struggled with that. I just try to time out my movement with the words, and …"

"No, no, no," said Kelli, "Not the blocking marks, I mean your comedy timing marks."

Penny looked confused, "I didn't know there were timing marks. I've been going with just what feels right."

"Wow," said Kelli with some surprise, "you can do that naturally?"

"Do what?" asked Penny, still looking confused.

"Penny," said Kelli, "people train for years to learn to hit their comedy timing marks. Some don't ever get it, or only get it to a small extent. I don't know if you know this, but depending on the line and the situation, how long you wait before delivering a funny line isn't always the same."

"How do you tell?" asked Penny.

"I just depends, sometimes, it's a short period, sometimes you have to draw it out. Most people have to learn that, learn the situations. For this shoot, you evidently didn't even know that there were timing marks, you just waited to say your lines and all of your timing was dead on."

"That's good, right?" said Penny sounding excited that she did something right.

"That's very good," said Kelli. "Very, very, good. It's rare for someone to have that kind of comedy timing. Between your timing and your facial expressions, Jim felt we had a perfect Jess for the show. I'll admit I didn't think so. Just not enough experience, I didn't think you would be able to get the timing down. But, wow, acting wise, you proved me wrong, and for that I'm glad."

"Acting wise? What do you mean?"

"Well," said Kelli, "mechanically, your lines, your blocking, which direction you were facing did not go smooth at all, did it?"

Penny looked sheepish, "No, I guess it didn't." Her voice rose and her speech got faster, "But, I can learn it, right? You said people have to learn their timing marks, well, I can learn the blocking ones, right? Right?"

Kelli smiled, "Calm down Penny, yes you can. Most actors learn that in acting classes."

"Oh, sorry," said Penny, "so, what happens now?"

"We'll…" Jim walked up and Kelli said, "Hi hon. I was just telling Penny how you pushed for her, and I didn't."

Jim chuckled, "Thank you Penny, for proving me right."

"Well, except for the production stuff. I screwed that up pretty badly." She paused for a few seconds, looking at Jim, "I guess there was stuff going on, I knew nothing about."

Jim chuckled again, "There always is, Penny. We talk between us all the time. We talk to the directors, we talk to the executives, cause, after all, they are the ones that will put the show on TV. We also talked to your co-stars."

Penny looked surprised. "Can I ask what they said?"

Kelli and Jim looked at each other, Jim nodded, and Kelli said, "I won't go into individual reactions, but overall, they were happy with you. Even with you forgetting lines and blocking, they could see you were putting in the effort, it was just a matter of time before you got it. They could see you cared about trying to get it right. They also thought you were funny. Remember, this is supposed to be a comedy, so if you are getting laughs from the other actors, you are doing quite well."

Penny blushed and said "Well, er, thank you Jim, believing in me…oh, sorry, thank you Kelli."

Kelli laughed, "Don't worry Penny. I'm glad it worked out too. Now, I was going to tell you what happens next. First, were going to edit the show. Put the camera shots, that we want, together. Once that's done, we'll look at it, and if we want, or need, to reshoot something, we'll call you in."

"Then we'll send it to the network. They'll pass it around to their executives, gather some test audiences to see what they think of it. Then, there will be some meetings. They may request a reshoot or they may request we change something like sets or even characters.

Kelli could see Penny starting to look worried, so she said, "But, I don't see where they would want to change the cast, you guys were so good. So, hopefully, they won't want a reshoot, or any big changes, and we'll just hear about the show getting picked up. We'll keep in touch Penny, would you rather we go through your agent, or can we call you directly?"

"You can call me," said Penny. "Would you want me to call my agent, or do you want to do it?"

"How about this," said Jim, "if we need you for taping or other production things, we'll call you, and then tell your agent. If it's contract things, we'll go through your agent first."

Penny considered that, "That sound's good, let me talk to her."

"Ok," said Kelli, "you'll be hearing from us. And, Penny, if this doesn't work out, you may be hearing from us for other things."

"What other things?"

Kelli said, "Jim and I have talked and if this doesn't work, we have some spots on our other two shows that we might be able to use you. One of them, could be recurring. So don't worry."

"Thank you," said Penny sounding stunned. "Before you go, I want to introduce you to my boyfriend, Leonard."

Kellie held out her hand and shook Leonards. "I've heard a lot about you. Lasers, Cal Tech, right?"

Leonard nodded, "Yes, experimental physics. Thank you for allowing me to watch."

"Our pleasure Leonard," said Jim, reaching to shake Leonard's hand. "I hope you enjoy it, because I think Penny will have a pretty good career, once people see her in this. Of course, we have to get this on the air, but if not, we have some other ideas for her. But, we have to get going, I just wanted to talk to Penny."

"Thank you so much," said Penny. "Call me whenever you need me."

"We will," said Jim. Kelli and Jim started walking away. Suddenly Jim turned, "By the way, do not cut your hair or dye it or tint it. If we have to reshoot anything, we have to make sure your appearance doesn't change."

Penny nodded and Jim continued, catching up with Kelli.

"Well," said Leonard, "that sounded like a pretty good endorsement, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did," said Penny looking a little shocked. "They sounded like they really liked me. This is a surprise, considering how the rest of my career has gone."

"Well," said Leonard, "now you can think your career is going to start going well, right?"

Penny nodded, "I guess, I've got two of the best producers, in the business, for producing comedy series saying I've done really well, and they may want me for something else, if this falls through." Penny paused for a few seconds, a grin slowly spreading, "Yeah, I think I can now say it's going well. Come on sweetie, let me say goodbye to a few people, and then we can head home."

Penny found several of the people she wanted to see and said goodbye to them. She found Dave and Dana talking and said goodbye to them. Then, she went looking for Jeanie and when she found her, she gave her a big hug.

"Thank you, Jeanie,"

"For what?" asked Jeanie.

"For everything," said Penny. "You made this a very good experience for me. I was screwing things up and you helped me understand what I needed to do. Can I tell you something?"

"Sure"

"If this pilot falls through, Jim and Kelli have a couple of ideas for me on their other shows."

"I'm not surprised," said Jeanie. "You are very funny and since they do comedies, you're perfect for their shows.

"That may be," said Penny, "but without your help here, I'm not sure they would be interested. Not only that, but you treated me like I've been in the business for years, instead of it being my first series. So, again, thank you for that."

Jeanie smiled, "I'll tell you what a big star told me when I first started. Treat everyone how you would like to be treated. There are a lot of assholes in this business, so don't be one. Help new actors, be considerate of the production people, remember they make you look good. And the biggest, is be professional. Be where you have to be, be there on time, and be prepared for what you have to do that day. If something comes up and you'll be late, call and let someone know. It costs money for production, waiting for you shouldn't be one of those costs."

Penny nodded, "Thank you, that all makes sense, and you lived up to it."

"You lived up to it yourself, especially the being prepared part of the job, so keep that up. And all that production stuff, the lines and blocking, you'll get it. Looking forward to working with you on this project Penny, take care." Jeanie gave Penny a hug, which Penny returned, then they broke and Penny and Leonard left.

 **Pasadena, February-March 2012**

Life went back to normal for Penny after the taping. She had gotten her check, and was a bit disappointed. From her ten thousand, they had taken out taxes, her agent's cut, her SAG initiation and dues, and by the time all of that added up, she was looking at a check for just under five thousand dollars. Following Leonard's advice, she put it in her savings account, minus a couple of hundred or so for a new dress and two pair of shoes. On the Tuesday after the taping, she was back at work at The Cheesecake Factory.

It was a rather large letdown after her previous week, but she still needed to have money coming in, and that meant working at the restaurant, unless another acting job came up. Her co-workers were excited for her, and were asking her all kinds of questions about working on a show. It got so bad that her manager banned anyone from asking her about it, while they were working. He then promptly broke his own decree, asking Penny all about it.

Leonard was working on his detection experiment, but he hadn't heard back from Sheldon, so he couldn't determine the exact frequency, of the laser, that he would need to increase the sensitivity for detecting a graviton.

Despite this, he continued working, trying to determine possible ways to detect the different particles. He knew the math, and could do the calculations needed to try to detect the Higgs and the Photons. He was even going to attempt the calculations for the electrons.

He didn't use the math every day, like Sheldon, so it wasn't going to be as easy for him, as it would be for Sheldon. But he could do it, for those three particles, and he had been working on the math, trying to determine the shape of the reflection. He thought about doing the calculations for protons and neutrons, but since they were made of quarks, he couldn't get a clean pattern. Nor, could he get a clean pattern from the quarks, so he dropped the idea of doing the calculations for either quarks or the other hadrons.

 **Apartment 4B, 5:15 PM, Friday, Mar 17th, 2012**

Leonard walked up the stairs after work. Amy was taking Sheldon somewhere he needed to be, for which Leonard was grateful. He was tired, he had been working on his calculations all week, and was struggling with it.

He had gotten the expected shape of the Higgs boson, and the photon, but was still working on the electron. He would need to calculate the frequency of the laser, but he was waiting until he completed all expected shapes before starting on the frequencies.

He unlocked the door to 4B and entered the apartment. Penny was looking out of the window, talking to someone. "Yes, Bill" she said, "that is the day I need."

 _Her boss,_ thought Leonard, _I wonder what that is about._

"Yeah, that's the only day I need," said Penny. "I'll be back to work on Tuesday, you can even use me on Saturday, if you need to. Yeah, I'll keep you up to date. Ok, see you Tuesday."

"What's going on?"

Penny turned, "Oh, hi sweetie, I have to go back in and do some reshoots."

"Why?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "I got a call today asking if I can be there on Monday, at ten. Of course I said yes, and I started to ask why and Tina simply said, 'good, see you then,' and she hung up. I guess I'll find out Monday. So where are you taking me for dinner?"

 **Stage 25, 9:45 AM, Monday, Mar 20th, 2012**

Penny was in the makeup room, Linda was fussing with her hair. Linda was the hair person for the show, and she was trying to get Penny's hair to look like it did on the screen in front of her. On the screen, was a shot of Penny from the taping, over a month ago.

Finally, Linda said, "Got it. You're fine now Penny."

"Thanks Linda," said Penny. Just then, Kelli walked in, and seeing Penny said, "Hi Penny, how are you?"

"Fine Kelli," said Penny. "What are we reshooting?"

"Just a few scenes," said Kelli. "There is a very good chance we won't have Dana for the series. He's been offered a lead role in another pilot, and there's possibly another reason, we just can't say anything about because it's not finalized yet. We've agreed to release him from the contract, and we've brought someone else in."

"Really?" said Penny. "Where is he? Who is he"

"As a matter of fact," said Kelli, "he's already shot his scenes. His name is Brent Crawford. What we're doing here is cleaning up some lines that had to be changed, due to the actor change, and because of how different he looks. The reshoots today are simply for you and Jeanie," said Kelli.

"Where is Jeanie?" asked Penny. "I haven't seen her."

"She's out on the set," said Kelli, "which is where I'm heading. But I have to run to my office first. I'll see you out there in a few."

"OK, see you out there." Penny and Kelli both left the makeup room, but while Penny headed toward the set, Kelli turned left, toward the offices.

As she got to the set, she heard "Penny!" and she turned to see Jeanie running towards her. When they met, they hugged, both talking rapidly, trying to catch up on what had happened, since they finished the taping. They had been talking only briefly when Kelli, Jim and another guy came walking up. The guy turned out to be named Don. He would be directing the reshoots, as Ron, their previous director was now busy with another show.

Tina passed out about 12 pages, which were three scenes from what Penny could see. Kelli told them they would have about an hour to look over the scenes. Penny and Jeanie went to the apartment set and Don explained what he wanted for their blocking. Once they had that, they spent their hour going over their lines and movement.

After an hour, Don took his time to run through the first scene several times and afterward, they taped it twice. There were no problems either time and they moved on to the second scene. Don had them repeat the process and in another 30 minutes, they were finished with the second scene.

There was a break for lunch, and then Jeanie and Penny had to change their costumes for the final scene. Again, the same process was run through and after another hour, they were finished with the final scene.

Penny changed out of her costume, grabbed all of her stuff and was heading out, when she saw Jeanie. She stopped and they talked for a bit.

Kelli walked up and Penny asked, "This is gonna make it take even longer before we find out, right?"

"Actually, no it isn't," said Kelli. "The network executives have seen it, and have liked it. The change of actors we've done isn't a big deal. When we explained the problem, the network execs are the ones that gave us Brent, so they are already happy with him. The audiences they've shown it to, have mostly liked it. I'm thinking it's going to be another two to three weeks before we find out. So be patient."

Penny nodded, "Ok, keep in touch Kelli. Bye Jeanie, call me and we can go out for lunch in a week or two." Jeanie nodded and Penny hugged her, then headed out of the stage, heading home.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N Again, got nothing. But I did** **finish the first draft of chapter 31 last night.**

 **Chapter 12**

 **President's Office, Cal Tech, 10:15 AM, Wednesday April 11, 2012**

Leonard was waiting nervously outside Dr. Siebert's office. Dr Eric Gablehauser had been at the door of his lab when Leonard arrived at work, telling him to be here at 10 AM, for a meeting. When Leonard tried to ask about it, he was abruptly cut off and simply told to bring the notebooks that contained his current research on particle detection.

He was starting to wonder if he was going to be called in when President Siebert's door opened and Dr Gablehauser motioned for Leonard to come in. As he walked passed him, Leonard whispered, "Do I call you Eric or Dr Gablehauser?"

Eric answered, also in a whisper, "You can call me Eric, but it's President or Dr Siebert."

Leonard nodded and Eric directed him to the small conference table on the wall opposite Dr Siebert's desk. At the table was Dr Siebert and another man who Leonard didn't recognize.

President Siebert motioned at the other man, "Dr Hofstadter, I want you to meet Dr Geoff Whatney, Dr Whatney, this is Dr Leonard Hofstadter."

Leonard started, recognizing the name of the person he had sent an email to, asking about his work, but had never gotten a response.

"I see you recognize my name," said Dr Whatney with a slight smile, in a distinctive English accent . "I'm quite sorry I didn't reply, but I had already planned a trip here and thought it better to talk to you in person. Well, anyway, it is nice to meet you Dr Hofstadter, but, please call me Geoff."

"It's nice to meet you too, Dr W…er, Geoff, and please call me Leonard."

"I will, thank you."

"Leonard," said Eric, "As you evidently know, Geoff is from Oxford. He has been following your research into particle detection. He has been working on the some of the same things and has some ideas of his own, he came here to see if there would be a way for the both of you to possibly work together, swap ideas."

"I…I…I…er, what?" stammered Leonard.

"Please let me explain," said Geoff. "I have been following your research very closely Leonard. I have had some similar ideas, but your ideas seem to be much farther along than mine. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that you are getting ready to calculate what shape the reflection should be for each of the particles. Is that correct?"

Leonard hesitated, giving away the progress of research was something that wasn't done without some sort of agreement. He was looking at Eric, hoping for guidance. Since Eric was standing behind Geoff, he couldn't see him. But, Leonard saw Eric nod and hold his thumb and index finger close together. Leonard took that as a sign to he could say just a bit about his research.

"Yes," started Leonard, "I've started calculating the shape, but it's difficult. Each of the different particles offers some challenges, since their characteristics, spin, mass, charge, are all different from the one another. And the hadrons, being composite particles leave me unsure as to even know where to start."

"Yes," said Geoff, "I can see the problem there. What about the others?"

"I really haven't got anything to say right now," said Leoanrd. "Once I determine which equations to use for detection, then I have other calculations to do, to find the best frequency and power to use to make the detection easier. So I'm not in any way ready to explain how it might work."

"Yes," said Geoff, "I can see where that might be a problem."

"It also appears I would need more powerful lasers, than I have available here," said Leonard. "Not all of what I'm doing would be detectable with the current power I have here."

"Hmmmmmm," said Geoff, "you know, if what Dr Gablehauser tells me is correct, we have several, more powerful, lasers than you have. We might be able to help you with the detection with our lasers. Of course, we would need to know what to look for. As for that, I've talked to both these gentlemen, who I believe have something to tell you."

"Dr Hofstadter," said Dr Siebert, "I want to point out that any help you give them, any work you two do together, would bring in some extra money to the University. They have several endowments for this research and they are willing to split it with us. We also have a donor who is willing to increase their donations, and possibly fund a new high powered laser for the university, if some of the key ideas of yours can be worked out."

Eric spoke up, "Also, Leonard, this type of research will produce quite a few papers, and the nature of this work could mean publishing in _Science_ or _Physical Review D_ for you, and _Nature_ for Geoff. And not just papers from you and Geoff. Other researchers would come to talk to both of you, or reference your papers in their own research. This would obviously bring credit to the university and as a result, draw more donors here. and…er…"

Eric looked at Dr Siebert, who nodded.

Eric continued, "We can see that this may require hiring some post-docs to help your with your calculations and experiments. The board would already look kindly upon an individual who brought in more money and more prestige to the university. If that individual was also overseeing post-docs, I'm sure the board could be nudged to endow a tenured chair for such an individual, if you get my drift."

Leonard looked shocked. Dr Siebert, was smiling and nodding. Eric was also smiling. He just nodded. Eric gestured at Geoff, his palm up.

Leonard turned to Geoff, opening his notebook, "What exactly do you need to know, Geoff?"

 **Apartment 4B 4:00 PM, Wednesday, Apr 11th, 2012**

Leonard walked into 4B, and could hear the shower running. He went to the bathroom door, stuck his head in and said, "Penny…"

There was a shriek, and Leonard could see Penny pull her arms in to cover herself.

"Penny, it's me, Leonard."

Penny face appeared around the shower curtain. "What the hell Leonard, you scared me? What are you doing home so early? Isn't tonight comic book night?"

"Yeah, it is," said Leonard. "But I have some good news, so Raj is going to bring Sheldon home."

"Well, go pour us a couple of glasses of wine," said Penny. "I'll be out in a minute."

It was actually several minutes before Penny appeared in a sweatshirt with "NEBRASKA" on it, and a pair of jeans, with her hair up in a ponytail. She sat down at the table and before Leonard could say anything, she spoke up.

"Leonard," she said, "before you start, Jim called me today, and said I have to be at their office tomorrow."

"What's up?"

"They didn't say," she continued, "but, I don't think it's bad, because if they didn't want me or wanted to fire me, they would need to go through my agent. I just wanted to let you know before you started telling me your good news cause you could be talking for hours."

Leonard smiled, took a sip of wine, and began telling Penny of his meeting this morning, and the opportunities it offered.

 **Apartment 4B 7:30 PM, Thursday, Apr 11th, 2012**

Leonard walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. He was late tonight, due to all the files he had to give to Geoff. He entered 4B and knew something was wrong as soon as he walked in the door. Penny was sitting at the table, a bottle of wine standing in front of her, and another on it's side next to it. She also had a full wine glass in front of her. But, what really let Leonard know there was a problem was the box of tissues off to the side, along with the pile of used tissues next to it.

Leonard took a deep breath, he knew he had the knack of saying the wrong thing, at the wrong time, and wanting to make sure that didn't happen this time. He walked over to Penny, stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders. "Rough day?" he said.

"Leonard," said Penny,"Iwontbeabletodotheshowbecause," Penny took a deep breath, "theyregoingtomoveittonewyorkandIwonbet…"

Leonard grabbed her gently by the arms saying, "Whoa Penny, slow down, take it easy. Wait, let me go get a glass, pour some wine and you can tell me…slowly." Leonard walked to the cupboard and grabbed a glass, bringing it over to the table. He sat down and poured a glass. He was looking at Penny, her nose was runny and her eyes were red, he could still see tears in them.

"Ok, Penny," he started, "nice and slow, start at the beginning and tell me what happened. I'm assuming this has something to do with your meeting with the television people today, am I right?"

Penny nodded, "Y-y-yes, it does. We got there and Jim and Kelli were there, along with a bunch of network big wigs. They seemed really nice, but looked serious, which made me nervous. They were asking me how I enjoyed working on this. Pushing me on whether I thought I was ready carry this much of a show, or was it too much for me. It sounded like they were going to fire me."

"But," said Leonard, "I was there at the taping, when Jim and Kelli said you were great, why would they fire you?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "They were asking me all these questions that sounded like they didn't want me anymore, and it seemed as if they were trying to get me say I didn't like it. And remember, whether or not Jim and Kelli liked me, the network people could say they didn't like me and I would be gone."

"So, did they fire you?"

"No, they didn't," said Penny. "I told you Kelli told me that besides the offer of a lead, there was another possible reason Dana decided to drop out of the project."

"Yeah, so what? What's going on?"

Penny swallowed, and looked very serious. "They are moving the production of the show to New York."

"So, why did that make you so upset?"

"Leonard," said Penny sounding exasperated, "I would have to move to New York. That would mean you here, and me in New York."

It took a second to register, then Leonard felt as if his stomach had flipped over. "You?" he said forlornly. "In New York?"

"Yes, that's why I'm so upset," said Penny. "Here's my big break, my real chance at getting my career started," Penny looked down, sounding heartbroken, "and I would have to leave you, to do it."

"But, why would they move it?" asked Leonard. He felt numb, and was trying not to show how upset he was. "I thought the stage was here in LA?"

"There are a couple of reasons. They are worried about matching the exterior shots with the stock shots," said Penny.

"What?"

"Leonard, exterior shots are those of outside things. The execs didn't like how the stock shots didn't match the exterior shots. They didn't like the difference between the stock shots and the sets."

Leonard was thinking of something he remembered from his tour at one of the studios, "Don't they have a…have a, place where they have buildings outside?"

"It's called a back lot," said Penny. "Yes, they have them, and that's what they used for the exterior shots, but for the execs, they didn't match up with the stock shots."

"Think of it this way, for New York, instead of shooting on a small section of the back lot, think of actually using the subway, or Broadway for your shots. Or,using landmarks, like the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty. All that could be done if the show was in New York."

"How would that even work with an audience?"

"We would shoot the interior scenes on a set like with shot the pilot," said Penny. "Just on a sound stage in New York. Remember the scenes you had to watch on the monitor? They would probably ship the set that's here, to New York. If we needed outside shots, we would pre-shoot at the actual site. It would be like the pre-taping we did for the pilot."

"What's the other reason?"

Penny continued, "Warner Brothers is the studio that does most of the multi-cam shows. It's what they do, and they are the best at it. CBS wants to convert a couple of studios there, to have the ability to do some multi-cams at their facility in New York. CBS wants Warner Brothers' help to set things up. To do this, CBS is paying Warner Brothers to do the show there, and also help them to get a second studio set up for multi-cam."

"Was New York the other reason Dana left?"

"Yes, it is, partly," said Penny. "Dana went to them about a month ago, to tell them about an offer he got for a lead role. He was worried that he wasn't going to be able to take the lead. When he told Kelli and Jim, they mentioned the possibility that the show might move to New York, and would he be able to go there with it."

"He told them it wouldn't be a problem. Jim told him that their contract controlled, but what if the show moved and Dana couldn't go to New York, they would have to let him out of his contract. Jim then asked. 'Was sure there wouldn't be a problem? Wink, wink.'."

Penny chuckled, "Dana caught on, and told Jim moving to New York would be a huge problem and his contract said the show would be shot in LA, so why should he move? Kelli and Jim told him if that is how he felt, they would release him from his contract. Kelli told me they were laughing and giggling the whole time that happened."

"So, Dana gets a shot at a lead role, but we were missing an actor. Jim and Kelli talked to the network and they suggested the new guy. That's why we went in for the reshoots last month. Then, last week, they found out, officially, they were definitely moving the show to New York, but it was pretty much already set."

Penny sighed, then continued, "They called Dave in on Monday, and he said he didn't have a problem with it, and then called Jeanie in yesterday morning. They had already talked it over with the new guy, back when they hired him. That's why they called me yesterday afternoon, and asked me to come in."

"The execs were kind about it at first, but basically they said I was told last as they thought I would be the easiest to replace, if it came to that." Penny choked up when the next words came out, "They said they already have a couple of ideas of who can replace me."

"I asked when they needed to know," said Penny. "because, I needed to talk it over with you, first"

"They said they needed to know right then, one way or another."

Penny smiled, "Jim jumped up and told them it would not be easy to replace me. That I have a great combination of line reading and facial expressions that are perfect for the character, and if I needed a day to think things over, I damn well would get a day. And if they had a problem with that, they could talk to him."

"How did they react?"

"They backed down," said Penny. "But, I do have to give them an answer tomorrow."

Leonard knew what he had to say. He swallowed and tried to sound supportive, "There really isn't anything to talk about. You go to New York and do the show."

"But you can't come," said Penny. "You have your new research work and with that, all those opportunities. You can't just up and leave to come with me."

"I'll take a sabbatical," said Leonard.

"No, Leonard, your work is here." said Penny. As much as she didn't want to, she knew she had to say the next part, "I'll just tell them I can't do it in New York. If you're not going, I'm not going. I'll stay here, remember Jim and Kelli have other ideas for me."

Leonard stood up and started pacing. He turned and said forcefully, "No, dammit, you have to take it. I'm not standing in the way of your career. You've worked for years to get something like this and I'm not allowing you to throw it away. I'll take a sabbatical."

"And I'm not taking you away from your work, especially now that you are getting the recognition you deserve. I'm not going to be the one that causes you to drop your research. I'm not going."

Penny and Leonard looked at each other, both looking unhappy, but resolute. It was Penny, with tears in her eyes, who broke the silence. "Leonard, what are we going to do?"


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N Again, I got nothin', hope you enjoy it.**

 **Chapter 13**

 **Apartment 4B, 8 PM, Wednesday, April 11, 2012**

They were both silent for several seconds, looking at each other. Finally Leonard said, "I don't think we're going to solve this very quickly, how about we order a pizza, I'm getting hungry."

Penny said, "Yeah, OK, that sounds good, I'm getting hungry too."

Leonard pulled out his phone and called, he ordered a pizza and a large salad he planned on splitting with Penny. After ordering, there was an uncomfortable silence. They both were looking at their phones, thinking, each trying to decide what to say to ease into the subject.

After about five minutes, Leonard said, "Hey, wait a minute. How do they know they are moving the show to New York? You haven't even found out if the shows will be on in the fall."

Penny looked down, "They told me that today. The show has been picked up, partially because of the Warner Brothers thing. Which is why it needs to go to New York."

Leonard had no answer to that, so they both fell silent again. The pizza arrived about ten minutes later, Leonard paid for it, and took it to the table, where Penny was already sitting and put it down. Leonard got bowls to split the salad, then they each grabbed a couple of pieces and started eating.

They were silent while they ate, Leonard was running several things through his mind, but he still didn't have it straight enough to try to explain it. He continued eating, and thinking, until things became clear. However, he knew if he plunged right into it, Penny would shut down. While he finished eating, he thought of a way to ease into the subject.

They finished cleaning up, put the leftover pizza in the box, then put the box on the counter. They sat at the table, taking sips of their wine. Leonard finally said, "Penny, can I ask you something, without you jumping down my throat or freaking out?"

Penny's mind froze for an instant. He had to be getting ready to talk about where they relationship was going, and she started feeling that familiar fear. She realized that it was something they were going to have to talk about, if there was any chance of figuring out how they were going solve their problem, but it still scared her.

Penny took a deep breath, thinking about it. She was quiet for so long, Leonard thought she wasn't going to answer. Finally she said, "I think I can do that, Leonard. I'm not going to tell you I won't freak out, or get upset. But, if you can bear with me for a little while, if I do freak out or get upset, if you give me a bit to work through it, I'm willing to try. Hell, I want desperately to try."

Leonard nodded, and Penny said, "Go on."

"Penny," started Leonard, "you know talking about going to New York together, or trying to figure out what we can do to get through this, means a really big commitment on both our parts."

Penny nodded.

"But, what kind of commitment?" said Leonard.

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said," said Leonard. "What kind of commitment are we talking about? Living together? Maybe getting engaged or even married. And if neither of those, what?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "It's probably something we should think and talk about, but I think it's too early to get engaged. Definitely too early to get married. Living together? I don't know. When would we have to live together?"

Leonard paused, and thought for a few seconds. "I suppose it's going to depend on what we decide we're going to do about the show moving to New York. Do you want to talk about that first, and then talk about our relationship? Or do we talk about where our relationship is, then talk about how we solve the problem with the show moving, based on that?"

"Let's talk about living together," said Penny. "I mean getting engaged and married is down the road."

Leonard said, "The only thing that would involve living together is if we both go to New York. Is part of you not wanting me to come with you to New York, a fear of us living together?"

"I don't think so," said Penny. "But, I mean you know about my commitment problems, who's to say? But, to be honest, I wasn't thinking about us living together when I said I didn't want you to go to New York, I was thinking about you giving up your work."

"But, why are you afraid of living together, here?" said Leonard.

"I don't know, I guess it could be my track record."

"What track record?" asked Leonard. "You only lived with Kurt, right?"

"Yes, he is the only one I lived with," said Penny, "and you know how that went. Even not counting the cheating, he was pretty terrible to live with. There were times I was afraid."

"He didn't hit your or anything did he?" asked Leonard, sounding concerned.

"No," said Penny, "he never hit me, but he was pretty overwhelming, physically, and sometimes, when we fought, I would get scared."

Leonard smiled, "You don't think I would, or could, do anything physically to you, do you?"

Penny smiled back, "No, but I guess spending all that time together might get me to thinking."

"Well, don't think about that, think about what we're doing right now," said Leonard. "We're together all the time, when were not working. I eat here, I have clothes here, I sleep here. About the only thing of mine that isn't here are my computer and whiteboards. But, even there, I bring them over here to work sometimes. So why are you worried about us living together? Hell, we're doing it already."

Penny thought about that for a minute. She ran though a checklist in her mind, similar to the one she had used with Leonard when Stephanie was there. _I didn't realized Leonard was living here. Dammit, he is living here, how did I miss that? Maybe it's because I wasn't thinking about it, so it didn't bother me. If I'm living it, and it doesn't bother me, what does that mean, and why should knowing make a difference?_

She continued thinking about it for a bit longer, then said, "You're right Leonard, we have been basically living together. At least there wouldn't be that much of a change if you moved everything over here, except it would be more crowded. So, let's just say I wouldn't have a major problem with it. I'm sure I'd be able to get used to it, but I'm still not letting you quit your work here."

"We'll even if I don't quit here," said Leonard, "we still have to talk about our relationship. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to either of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Penny," said Leonard, "with you in New York, and me here, where exactly are we in our relationship? Obviously, right now we're boyfriend/girlfriend. But, beyond that, what is our status. Are we pre-engaged? If so, what exactly is that? I just don't know exactly where we are, and that's what I want to understand."

Penny didn't know how to answer that, and was silent.

"I mean I was in a long distance relationship and it didn't work."

Penny had an answer for that, her eyes flashing. "Yeah, I know. You had that girl you went to see, while you were still dating Priya. It was only after you found out Priya was cheating that you broke up with her. What about your cheating on Priya?"

"Yes, I was kissing her," said Leonard. "It wasn't one of my prouder moments. But, I didn't have sex with that girl, Priya had sex with her ex. There is a difference."

"I don't see one," said Penny. "The way you described it, the first time she kissed you, it was a surprise, and you just went along with it, I can see that being forgivable. What's not forgivable is that you went to her apartment, at a different time, fully intending to have sex with her."

"But, I did stop," said Leonard. "And, besides, that was different, that was Priya, not you."

"How is that different?" asked Penny. "You told me you didn't want to break up with her, because you loved her and could get married to her. Now, you say you love me, have evidently thought about marriage, how is that any different?"

"There is quite a bit of difference," said Leonard. "For one, I was just fooling myself. When she didn't tell me about her leaving, that pretty much ended the relationship, even though we tried. For another, we never talked about anything. Her leaving without telling me is the biggest example. It was a lot like you and I that first time we were together a couple of years ago. Do you realize how far we've come in the last six months?"

"Yes, we have," said Penny, a slight touch of anger in her voice. "I just don't want you to think that it would be OK with me. I've been cheated on, and kissing another woman, while we're engaged in a sexual relationship, ring or no ring, engagement or no engagement is cheating. I'm not putting up with that, got it?"

"What about you?" said Leonard. "All those stories you told me about sleeping with guys while you were dating someone else."

"Yeah, that was almost ten years ago," said Penny, sounding angry. "In your case, that was less than a year ago, so don't try to make them equal. Just remember I'm not putting up with it."

Leonard nodded, Penny continued, "So how far have we come?"

"You do remember during our first time together, don't you?" asked Leonard. "Not talking about what bothered us, fighting because of it. Misunderstanding each other, just because we wouldn't talk."

"Yeah?"

"Penny," said Leonard, "you do now realize we've been living together. And you, you were thinking of not going, to stay with me. And, look at us right now, right here, we're talking. We're trying to figure out what we're going to do, as a couple, about you possibly leaving. I didn't do that with Priya, we didn't do that before. I think that is a lot more intimate than just having sex."

Penny mouth moved, but nothing came out. She turned to look out of her window. There were two thoughts running through her mind. She was afraid of bringing them up, afraid of what Leonard would say, so it was a couple of minutes before she said anything.

"So tell me Leonard," said Penny, "what are we going to do?"

"For what?"

"From what you're saying, if we both go to New York, we'll have to live together," said Penny. "But, we know I'm not going to let you come along. So that leaves me going by myself, and it seems we should have some sort of commitment, but you know me. So what type of commitment are we going to have?"

Leonard looked down. Penny had to smile, she saw a glimpse of the shy, unsure Leonard she first met. As he raised his head, her smile disappeared. "Penny," he started, "I know you're not ready for anything formal. So, you promise you won't freak out?"

She nodded.

He chuckled, "I had to ask, I've seen the fear in your eyes several times." He became serious again, "How about we do this. If everything is moving along as well as it is now, what do you think about getting engaged, say about right around a year and a half from now?"

She felt the fear, but tried to hide it. "So, our commitment would be to agree to get engaged sometime next fall or winter? If things are going along as well as they are now?"

"Yeah," said Leonard, "and we could wait for a year or two to get married. That would put our engagement sometime in late 2013 and we would get married in 2015 or 2016. I think that gives us a commitment, but it's far enough out that you can feel comfortable. And, if you feel comfortable sooner, those dates can be moved up."

Penny thought about it for a while. _It seems reasonable… another year or so for the engagement, and then possibly two more before the wedding. I'm sure I could handle that… I hope I can handle that. I mean, look at us living together, and me getting all upset thinking about leaving Leonard here. It still worries me, but yeah, this could work._

Penny nodded, "I don't know, Leonard. That does sound reasonable and like something I can handle. But, I'll be honest, it still scares me a little bit. Overall though, if I go, we would have an understanding that we get engaged next year and that sounds like a commitment I can be somewhat comfortable with."

"That doesn't sound like a rousing endorsement," said Leonard.

"I know," said Penny, "but look at it this way, would I even have been able to give you that a few months ago?"

Leonard actually chuckled, "No, I guess not. So, relationship wise, we go with this?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "I'm good with it like this. The question now, I guess, becomes how can we make it work?"

"I get some holiday breaks," said Leonard, "so I could come to New York for a few days when we get them."

Penny said,"I know we get some breaks every so often, a week or so. I should be able to fly back during those times."

"What do you mean?"

"There are times the writers have to catch up," said Penny. "As we can tape faster than they can write. So, I can come home whenever they need to get ahead with the writing."

Leonard sounded excited, "Really? I didn't know that, I was afraid I wouldn't see you until Thanksgiving, or possibly Christmas.

"Yeah," said Penny, "I was worried about that also, but I was more worried about not going or leaving you here."

"I suppose we'll be able to spend the holidays together."

"I know we get about four weeks off in December," said Penny. "And, of course, we have the summer off. I'll have to wait to get the full schedule."

"Will you be able to afford flying back and forth?"

"Yeah, don't forget how much I'm getting paid now," said Penny proudly. "Even with taxes and SAG dues and my agent's fee, I'll get more in a week, than I made in four months 'cause I'm getting a raise."

"What? You didn't tell me that, why?"

"We called my agent about the move and how that would affect my contract and what would be the payout if I didn't go to New York," said Penny. My agent mentioned how I would have to find a place to live and how I would have to fly back during hiatuses to take care of my affairs…"

"What affairs?"

"My bills, look in on my apartment, grab things I forgot to bring, that sort of thing."

"But, I can take care of your apartment," said Leonard. "I can mail anything you forget. Then I…"

"Leonard," said Penny, "be quiet. If I agree to go, my agent got me a five thousand dollar raise, per episode, to take care of all that, to pay for the flights back, so let me worry about that. All we have to wait for, is to find out the shooting schedule."

"I got a smaller raise…"

"Wait, you got a five thousand dollar raise, per episode, and you're calling that a smaller one?"

"Yeah, so?" said Penny. Leonard just shook his head.

Penny continued, "Anyway, as Warner Brothers has a place for me to live. I'll have to pay them, but it's much cheaper than what I would have to pay if I found one on my own. I'm making money by getting the extra five thousand, even if you count the extra expense of flying home when I'm able."

"And in between," said Leonard, "we can Skype, or call or message. So we should be able to see each other every day, even if it's through a phone."

"So," said Penny timidly, "I guess I can call them tomorrow and tell them I'll accept going to New York?" "Yes," said Leonard with a smile, "You'll be going to New York, to star in a TV show."

"Well, I'll be a costar," said Penny. "And, some other good news, you get to go to New York with me next month."

"Next month? What for?"

"It's called Upfronts," said Penny. "It's where the networks introduce their new shows, or have the casts of their top shows come and talk to the press and sponsors. They also try to sell as much of their add time as they can. As the only new CBS comedy, they wanted our cast to be there for an introduction and to talk to the press. But I can bring, someone, so, you're my plus one."

Leonard smile, "That's so cool, we…" Suddenly Leonard became serious. When is it? Howard's leaving to go to Russia for his flight to the space station."

"Ahhhh," said Penny scrunching up her face as she thought, "I think it's the week of the 14th… yeah, cause our presentation is the 16th."

"That's good," said Leonard. "Howard doesn't leave until the end of May or the first week of June. School's out by then also."

Leonard's face became serious, as did his voice. "Penny, I know something will come up, you may get worried about how things are going between us, we might get mad at each other, but if things happen, we need to talk about it, OK? Not let it fester. If we don't talk, it will just make it worse."

"OK, Leonard" said Penny with a smile, "I'll try to make sure if I feel like I'm freaking out, or starting to get worried about commitment, I don't close down. But, I really can't see anything that would cause me to not talk to you."

Leonard smile back at her and she said, "So, this felt like a small fight, want to head to the bedroom for some makeup sex?"

"Yeah, that sounds good to me," said Leonard rising and pulling Penny toward the bedroom.


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N This author's note intentional left blank.**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Producers office, 10 AM, Thursday April 12, 2012**

Penny was waiting in Jim and Kelli's office, waiting for them to come out and get her. She had driven there, arriving at 9:45, because she didn't want to get there too early. After they called her in, she told them she was accepting the move to New York. They were both happy she accepted and they also gave her the check for the days of work on the reshoots. They also told her the new contract would go to her agent, for her review, before sending it to Penny for her signature.

They also gave her the tentative shooting schedule, and as soon as she saw it, she tried to find a way to leave as soon as she could. After leaving the office, she called Howard, she had forgotten how to get to Leoanrd's lab. He explained to her how to get to Leonard's building at the university. She found the parking lot Howard suggested, and saw Howard was waiting for her.

While he was leading her down the corridors of the building and just before they got to Leonard's lab, Howard asked, "What bring you here?"

Penny said, I can't you yet, I want to tell Leonard first." Howard smiled and nodded, and just pointed to the door of Leonard's lab, then walked away.

At the door, Penny stopped for a few seconds, she was patting her hair, and brushing her clothes. She finally felt as if everything was in place and walked through the door.

"Oh Leonard," she started, "I got the best news…" She stopped, seeing Leonard had someone else in the lab with him. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were with someone else."

Leonard looked up, surprised and said, "Penny, what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry about it," said Penny. "It can wait, I'm sorry I interrupted." She turned to leave.

"Wait, Penny," said Leonard. Penny stopped and turned around.

Leonard continued, "I want to introduce you to Dr Geoff Whatney. Geoff, this is my girlfriend, Penny."

"It's nice to meet you Dr Whatney," said Penny. "Leonard's told me a bit about you."

"So nice to me you," said Geoff. "Leonard told me you two were dating, but he didn't tell me how lovely you were, and please, call me Geoff."

Penny blushed a bit at the compliment.

Geoff looked at both of them, then said, "It appears you have something exciting to tell Leonard, so I'll take off for a bit…"

"No, Geoff," said Penny, "You stay, I'll tell him when he gets home."

"Nonsense," said Geoff, "It's about time for my late morning tea, so I'll run down to the canteen, while you two talk."

"Thanks Geoff," said Leonard.

"Thank you," said Penny.

"No trouble at all," said Geoff as he left the lab.

"So, what is so important or exciting, that you come to my lab for only the second time ever? "

"I was here before this year," said Penny, "I was here with…"

She stopped, looking embarrassed. Leonard looked at her quizzically, and suddenly he got it. You were here with Dave, weren't you?"

Penny nodded.

"Did you have sex with him here?"

"NO," said Penny emphatically, "we never had sex here…" Penny's voice trailed off.

"Meaning you've had sex in other places," said Leonard with a smirk.

"Look Leonard," said Penny, "he was an ass and that was three years…"

Leonard chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm just teasing. When you two came to the cafeteria, it was rather obvious you had sex with him, just not sure where. It's good to know it wasn't here, not sure I could work here if you had. Anyway, what's the good news?"

Penny looked mollified, and he could see the excitement on her face, "Oh, Leonard, remember when I said we would get a week or so off sometimes? I got the shooting schedule. Except for the first four weeks, it's a shoot two weeks, then we're off one week."

"What? A week off every three weeks?" said Leonard, his voice sounding excited also.

"Yeah," said Penny, so I'll be able to come home every third week. And, four weeks for Christmas and of course I have four months off during the summer, when you also have time off, so it won't be so bad.

"Well, if I'm working on my research, there may be times during the summer where I might have to travel to places to discuss my work, or go to a university to talk to others who are doing research. Prepare to work with the grad students for the next year. But, there are some week breaks during the school year," said Leonard, "so I could come to New York for a week when we get those breaks."

"Yes," said Penny, "it's not going to be so bad after all. A couple of weeks will be easy to manage. Oh, Leonard, it's going to work." Penny ran up to him engulfing him in a hug. He enthusiastically returned it.

"So, anything else?"

Penny pulled back a bit, so she could look at Leonard, but they still had their arms wrapped around each other, "Yeah, but it's something we can talk about when you get home. I've got to meet Amy and Bernadette this afternoon, were going to do some planning for the wedding and some for her bachelorette party. And, I have to get some lunch before I go."

Penny kissed him, "I'll see you at home." Penny broke the hug, kissed him again, and walked toward the door, "See you tonight. Love you."

Leonard smiled, "Love you too, see you tonight."

Penny left, and Leonard started working on a calculation to have ready when Geoff returned.

 **Apt 4B, 7:30 PM, Thursday April 12, 2012**

Leonard entered the apartment, but didn't see Penny. He knew he was late. He and Geoff had been working on the calculations all afternoon. They had gotten partially done, then Geoff had gotten an idea, and at that point they had lost track of the time as they worked with it, setting up the preliminary equations for the protons.

He walked into the bedroom, then looked in the bathroom but, again, didn't see Penny. He was wondering where she was, when he heard the apartment door open, and he walked out of the bedroom.

"Oh, Leonard," said Penny, "you're home."

"Yes," said Leonard, "I just got here. What have you got?"

"I got dinner, Thai food."

"That's good," said Leonard, "You get it out, I'll get some wine and put plates down." Within minutes they were eating.

"How did it go at Bernadette's today?" asked Leonard.

"Fine," said Penny, "we printed out and then wrote on some labels for various things Bernadette is going to give to her and Howard's relatives and we discussed the bachelorette party. We got some more to do and Amy is coming over Saturday to help."

"You planning a big blow out for that?"

Bernadette doesn't want anything big," said Penny She just wants Amy and me, so it's going to be quiet, low key. We're planning on having it on the same night as Howard's bachelor party."

"That makes sense," said Leonard. "So what's this other thing you want to talk about?"

Leonard could see Penny looked nervous, and was hesitating. Penny looked at Leonard, then said, "What would you think about me quitting The Cheesecake Factory?"

"You mean, now?"

"Yes," said Penny, "well, giving my notice. I was talking to Jim and Kelli today and found some things out, so I thought about it. I mean we have Howard and Bernadette's wedding coming up. I have to go in to shoot a promo for the Up-fronts, then I have to go to New York, FOR the Up-fronts. After that I'll have some things to do to promote the show, interviews, promos that will run on the network."

"I also want to go home for a couple of weeks, and I'd like for us to go somewhere, just me and you for a week, just get away. With all that, I just thought it would better for us… er me… to not have to keep having to ask for time off, it would just make it simpler."

"How are your finances?"

"Well, I'll have two weeks of pay coming," said Penny. "I've got the almost five thousand from shooting the pilot. I've got several more promos to do, and that will be $1500 for each, which is about two weeks of my pay at the restaurant. So I should be able to last until I start getting my regular check."

Leonard thought about it, "And, if something happens, I can help out. Buy food for us, help with water and lights. I mean I won't move out of 4A, but since I spend most of my time here, it makes sense to help out if you need it."

"I think I can handle having you here," said Penny. "After all you're already here." "I thought you would be able to," said Leonard with a smile, "since we said goodbye at the school today."

"Why?"

"Well," said Leonard, "you said you'd see me at home."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did," said Leonard. "It seems you think of this apartment as our home."

Penny had no answer for that, she just stared at Leonard.

Leonard said, "I just thought that if you thought of this as our home, I should help out paying for it. So, I guess you can give your notice tomorrow."

Penny nodded, "Yeah, I'll tell them I'll work through next week." She looked at the calendar, "The 20th will be my last day."

"OK, good," said Leonard.

Penny said, "Thank you, Leonard. I thought you would be upset, but you even offered to help me."

"You thought about it, gave some cognizant reasons, and they make a lot of sense," said Leonard. "It's actually helpful. Like I told you before, I'll keep stuff in 4A and live there, when your are gone. When you're back, we can stay here. I think we ought to pay for this apartment together, even if I'm staying across the hall when you're gone. Besides, I don't want to drive Sheldon crazy, with him thinking he has to find another roommate."

"OK," said Penny. "So, I will give my notice and I guess you will be living here until I leave. Wow, I said you will be living here."

"Yeah," said Leonard, "Intimidated?"

"Penny said, "Nah, I think I got it. Do you want to look around on-line to find a place we can go for a week?"

Leonard nodded, "After we finish cleaning up."

Penny chuckled and nodded as they started clearing the table.

 **Late April- Early May, 2012**

The rest of April passed rather quickly for both Penny and Leonard. Penny, mainly because of the planning for Bernadette's wedding, but also the two days she spent shooting several promos for their upfront presentation.

She did one by herself, and one with Jeanie. From Jeanie, Penny learned that her and Dave had done several, and Dave had done one with the new guy, Brent. Penny still hadn't met Brent, but expected to when they got to New York.

In between shoots, Penny spent a lot of time at Bernadette's, commiserating with her as Howard was at NASA for some fittings for his spacesuit, and his survival training. Near the end of the week, Bernadette decided to travel to Houston to be near Howard and help him through. She said she could tell he was struggling.

Leonard had spent the rest of the month going over the calculations with Geoff, and planning for how they were to proceed. Leonard deferred to Geoff when it came to the theoretical work.

Geoff, however, was surprised at the breadth of Leonard's work. He now understood that Leonard's reputation as a top notch experimentalist, hid the depth of knowledge he had of the theoretical aspects of physics. While Geoff knew Leonard was deferring to him on the theoretical side, Geoff continued to push Leonard on doing or helping with the theoretical work.

The last Saturday in April finally came and the men gathered at a local steakhouse, while the women gathered at Bernadette's apartment. There was some trouble when the women found a video by Wil Wheaton from the bachelor party. Raj was talking about some rather sleazy actions, unknown to Bernadette, that Howard had engaged in prior to meeting Bernadette. After a while, Howard came over to apologize and it brought Penny to tears and mollified Bernadette.

There was now less than two weeks before Howard and Bernadette's wedding, and less than a month before Howard's scheduled launch, when a problem arose. First Howard's flight was cancelled, then re-instated, but moved up to where it would be before the scheduled wedding.

Bernadette wanted to be married before Howard left, but they were prevented from getting married at the courthouse as there were simply too many couples wanting to get married, before courthouse closed at five PM.

Penny then suggested that the other five could get approved to wed others, so they could officiate Howard and Bernadette's wedding. Raj then thought of a place, the apartment roof at 2311 North Robles, and a way to decorate it. With that, Howard and Bernadette agreed to the wedding on Sunday.

Penny and Leonard spent Saturday, getting the certificates signifying Amy, Sheldon, Raj and themselves could perform the wedding. Raj spent the day buying the decorations and then decorating the roof for the wedding, with help from Penny and Leonard.

On Sunday, the guys got dressed in 4A and the women in 4B. Except for the seven members of the group, the only other people there were Howard's mother, and Bernadette's parents. The ceremony went well, the only jarring note was Sheldon trying to say his comments in Klingon, which Bernadette stopped quickly.

After the wedding, Howard and Bernadette spent their wedding night at the Pasadena Westin. Then they left early on Monday, so Howard could get to the airport for his flight to Houston, on his way to Moscow.

Bernadette was upset enough that Penny went with them, so she could drive Bernadette home. Penny discretely slipped away, to get a luggage cart she said, but really to allow Howard and Bernadette some time alone, to say goodbye. When Penny returned, they got out of the car and Penny helped Howard put his luggage on a cart. Bernadette and Howard hugged, kissed then hugged again before Howard took his luggage cart, to check in.

Bernadette was leaning on Penny, sobbing softly, as they watched him move into the terminal, waiting until he was no longer visible. Penny started for the car and saw Bernadette in tears, so she hugged her, until her crying subsided. They then got back in the car, Penny dropping Berndette off, before heading back to her apartment.

Tuesday, Penny spent at CBS headquarters, and with Dave and Jeanie, they met with various CBS executives. Brent was already in New York, so again Penny had missed meeting him. Jim and Kelli were also there and they helped calm Penny, as she was very nervous about meeting all the network big wigs. But, everyone seemed so nice, and kept congratulating her on getting the role.

On Wednesday, Penny met with the television show development people, and again, they were very nice to her, telling her how well she did, and congratulating her. While there, she talked to one assistant and as he asked questions, she gave answers that would go into her official bio.

The next evening, Leonard and Penny attended a formal ball, including everyone who was part of the CBS family. This was a get together to push the new shows, and introduce the various actors to the press, a sort of West coast prequel to the Upfronts. They played both of Penny's promos for the new show and Penny was excited at all the people that came up to tell her how well she did.

She met quite a few stars from CBS and was really excited to me Shemar Moore, from "Criminal Minds" She also met Mark Harmon from NICS. He was quite charming, telling Penny that she should have auditioned for NCIS, he was sure they could have used her for something, maybe a waitress being sarcastic to his character. She was really surprised when she met Mark's wife. She remembered watching reruns of "Mork and Mindy" when she was growing up, and to have Pam Dawber, who played "Mindy" talking to her was exciting, but disconcerting.

Leonard felt a bit out of his element, as meeting all of the people at the network was intimidating to him and he wasn't sure what to say. Penny seemed to fit right in, looking like she was comfortable talking to everyone. Leonard he was feeling very awkward, when he met his own "Pam", Dave's wife, and they had a nice conversation, while Dave and Penny, were moving around talking with everyone.

The next several days were spent preparing for the trip to New York. Leonard had to pack a tux, he had felt strange buying one, while Penny had several gowns waiting in New York for the evening meetings. They also packed some casual clothes for the sightseeing they planned to do there.

Sunday morning, Amy came over to drive them to the airport, with Sheldon riding along. Leonard and Penny were dropped off at their airline, Sheldon complaining the whole time because Amy had parked in the red zone.

They got out of the car and said their goodbyes and headed into the terminal. An hour after getting through security, they were both buckling their seat belts in first class, an upgrade Penny had requested and was happy the network granted, preparing for their flight to New York.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N Sorry for the week wait. Life got in the way (mostly having to do with renovations and getting cast in a play) and I didn't get a new chapter written this week. So I wasn't able to publish two chapters, but am far enough ahead, that I could publish another chapters, even if I didn't get a new one written. There is another A/N at the end, as there would be minor spoilers.**

 **Chapter 15**

 **Ritz-Carlton Central Park, NY, 6 PM, Sunday May 13, 2012**

Leonard and Penny were relaxing in the living area of their deluxe suite on the 19th Floor. While they had been able to get a decent nap, on the flight, in first class, they were still a bit tired from the traveling.

As a result, they decided to just order room service and relax in their room. It didn't hurt that their room was across the street from the South end of Central Park, so they had a fabulous view. After they had finished eating, Leonard rolled the cart into the hallway.

Just as he sat down the phone rang. As Penny was nearer, and it was probably for her anyway, she picked it up and said, "Hello… this is she…Oh, hi Tina, what's up? Uh huh, hold on a second and let me get some paper and a pen." Penny reached over and grabbed the pad of paper and a pen, then said, "OK, go on. Tomorrow, CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th… what time? OK, got it. We'll get our schedule for the rest of the week? They'll have breakfast…Oh, sorry. How long…about fifteen minutes…Ok, we'll see you tomorrow. Thanks, bye."

"What was that?"

"You remember Tina, she let you sit on the stage floor at the taping?"

"Yeah, I remember her." "She is Jim and Kelli's production assistant, and she called to tell me we have a meeting tomorrow," said Penny. "We have to be at the CBS Broadcast Center at 10 AM, to meet with Jim and Kelli, and they'll give us our schedules for the rest of the week. We won't have to eat here, there will be a continental breakfast there. We just have to be there between 9:30 and 10:00 and it takes about fifteen minutes to get there, from here, so we'll have to time it."

"We can to that," said Leonard. "Although I may want to eat something here before we go."

"Yeah, me too," said Penny.

"Ok, we can eat in the restaurant here," said Leonard. "You want to go out and look around tonight?"

"No," said Penny, "I think were better off just staying in and trying to get some rest. Jeanie said it can be overwhelming, if you're not ready for it, because everything moves so fast. So, if we just relax, we may be better off the rest of the week."

"So, miss 'I like to party', want's to stay in?" chuckled Leonard. "You must be taking this seriously."

"What do you think, Leonard?" said Penny. "A network, that approved me to be in one of their series, flew me here to help sell their ad time. I've got to take it seriously."

"Of course," said Leonard. "I was just goofing with you."

"Sorry," said Penny, "I'm kind of nervous about this."

"I know how to take care of that," said Leonard grinning, "This is your first time in New York, right?"

"Yep, it is," said Penny smirked, "I believe this is your first time also, true?"

Leonard chuckled, "so I guess it's safe to say neither of us have had sex in New York."

"Well, I haven't," said Penny.

"I haven't either,"

At that, Penny rose out of the chair, grabbed Leonard's wrist and pulled him toward the bedroom, Leonard wasn't fighting it.

 **CBS Broadcast Center, W 57th, NY, 9:25 AM, Monday May 14, 2012**

Penny and Leonard were waiting in an empty Studio. There were some stands where an audience would sit, and on the stage floor, was a table with some chairs around it. Also, against the wall, near the table was another table with pastries, fruit, juices, water and several pots of coffee.

Penny was glad they decided to get there early, as they had had some trouble getting into the facility. The receptionist wasn't going to let Penny in, as her identification didn't say she was Penelope Jensen, which was what was on the ID the receptionist had Of course, without Penny getting in, Leonard couldn't get in, either.

The receptionist called a guard over and after hearing Penny explain, the guard was still dubious about her claim. Finally, Tina arrived, and she informed the guard that yes, this was Penelope Jensen and her boyfriend. The guard finally, and grudgingly, gave them visitor passes that they wore around their neck.

Tina led Penny and Leonard to the empty studio, and told them to make themselves comfortable, and she'd be back. They both got up to get some coffee, and waited for several minutes at the table when Jeanie came in. She said hi and gave Penny a hug, patted Leonard on his arm, then she went to get some coffee. Dave was next, along with his wife Pam. They both said hi, and walked over to the table for some coffee also.

Jeanie was talking with Leonard and Penny when Tina came back in, along with Brent. Tina brought Brent over and Penny was finally introduced to her co-star. He was looking her over, then he nodded and grunted. It made Penny feel uncomfortable, and reminded her of Howard, when they first met, or her former boyfriend, Kurt. Penny quickly pulled Leonard in and introduced him as her boyfriend. At that, Brent looked as if he lost interest and turned away and walked back out of the studio.

Tina had been talking to Jeanie and she turned to say something to Brent. She didn't see him and said, "Now where did Brent go?"

Penny spoke up, "I saw him leave, that door over there," as Penny pointed.

"Dammit," Tina cursed under her breath and headed for the door. Jeanie came walking up, "Be careful with Brent."

"What do you mean?" asked Penny.

"I saw him looking you over," said Jeanie. "I hear he likes to think he's a player, and being a handsome actor helps him think that."

"I'm not interested," said Penny. "I've got Leonard and Brent was creepy enough to keep me away from him."

"Good," said Jeanie, "that's probably for the best."

Just then, Brent walked back in, from a different door, and with him, was the receptionist. She had a big smile on her face, while Brent had his arm around her waist. Before anyone could say anything, Jim, Kelli and Tina came through the door Tina had left from. Both Jim and Kelli had folders in their hands, while Tina had four folders in arms.

Jim spoke up, "Ok, can all of you come here and sit down. Er…Brent, this is for actors and their plus ones. And those were set up a month ago, you didn't indicate you were bringing anyone, so would you please have your friend leave?"

Brent removed his arm from around her waist, shrugged his shoulders, and pointed her toward the door. Her smile turned into a frown, she stomped her foot, looking at Brent. But, he didn't say anything and she finally turned and walked out. The rest of them took seats, Penny making sure she sat between Jeanie and Leonard.

Jim started talking, "OK, the folders that Tina is passing out are our schedules for the week. It's all in there, but let me go over it once, and we'll go from there. First off, the guys have already been to the UTA agency party last night. I hope you two spoke with your agents, and some of the higher ups at your agencies and they are happy that you'll be working on this show."

"Tomorrow is the CBS press reception. That starts at 10 AM and is mostly you mixing with the press, and if they want to talk, you talk to them. Since we're a new series, I don't expect to get many questions. Dave, Jeanie, Brent, most of them know you three, so you may get some questions. However, I don't expect very many for Penny tomorrow. Penny, it's a case of them not knowing who you are. Everyone has to be here until six, in case CBS wants to parade you around for any of their sponsors. After, everyone is free for dinner."

"At 9 PM, William Morris is having their party. Kelli and I will be attending, as will Jeanie." He turned to Jeanie, "There will be a limo at the hotel at 8:30 to take us to the party."

Jeanie nodded, and he turned toward Kelli and whispered to her, she whispered back and then Jim turned to Penny, "Penny…"

"Yes?"

"If you wish," said Jim, "you and Leonard can come with Kelli and I as our guests. I know you have your own agent, but I don't think they are hooked into any national agency network. But, we can introduce you to some people. I know the agency your agent works for, and they don't have any representation here in New York. So you may want to meet some people that might be able to help you there."

Penny nodded and Jim continued.

"Also, Penny, were going to start calling you Penelope or Penelope Jensen for now. I don't think anyone will tie Penny to Penelope Jensen, and we want people to be talking about Penelope. So, do us a favor and just go by Penelope or Penelope Jensen here and in public generally."

Again, Penny nodded.

Jim paused for a few seconds. "This next event is the big one, so try not to stay at the party too late on Tuesday. On Wednesday, at 4 PM, there will be the CBS presentation, at Carnegie Hall. We need all of you here by 2 PM, so we can get you all in clothes and makeup, then take you over there. Immediately after the presentation, everyone will move to Lincoln Center for a CBS reception."

"There will be reporters for major newspapers, trade papers, TV and radio, just a lot of people looking to talk to you. This is where we expect a lot of questions for Penelope. You are unknown to most of them, and after seeing you during the presentation, they will want to ask you questions, trying to learn about you or find a new angle."

"Let's see," said Jim as he looked through his folder, "On Thursday, there will be a press reception at the Warner Brothers center, since our production is through Warner Brothers, we need to be there. That will be at 4 PM also, it should run to around six or seven, and after everyone is free for the night.

"That's it for the business end of the week. Kelli has a few other things."

Kelli stood and said, "For today, you all have the rest of the day off. Tonight, Jim and I have made reservations at a restaurant called La Bernardin, one of our favorites. It's a French Seafood restaurant, it's our way of showing you all that we appreciate all your work, and as a way of welcoming you to our production family. It's not a requirement, but we hope you will join us."

"On Friday, we have another surprise for you. We have reservations at The Modern, it's an American restaurant located in the Museum of Modern art. Those reservations are at 5:30, and at 8 PM we have tickets for "The Book of Mormon." There is an actor in that show that we've worked with, his name is Josh Gad. He's only got a few weeks left in this show, but he's gotten us tickets."

"For now, you are all free. Remember, 5:30 in the lobby. We'll see you then. Penny, can you hold back for a minute?" Penny wondered what was up and after everyone else left, Kelli said, "Penny, excuse me," she smiled, "Penelope, we need to get you a CBS ID card. That way you won't have a problem getting into the building, or anywhere else this week. Follow me." It only took about 30 minutes before she had her card. She thanked Kelli and Jim and her and Leonard left.

They hailed a taxi, going back to their hotel room. Penny dropped off her folder and put on sneakers and then they hailed another taxi and were soon exiting at the first place they had decided to visit, the Empire State Building. As they were getting out of the taxi, they spotted a Chinese restaurant and decided to have lunch first.

After lunch, they went to the building and bought tickets for the observation area, and after a short wait, they were on the 86th floor looking out over the city. Neither of them had ever been this high above ground, in a building before, and even with a barrier, both of them felt nervous near the edge.

After about a half an hour, of looking around and taking pictures, they took the elevator down, and spent another half hour looking through the exhibits, both purchasing a small magnet as a souvenir. After leaving, they hailed a taxi, and returned to their room. Penny looked at Leonard smiling, and asked, "Do you want to make some more memories?"

Leonard laughed, "What do you think?" They both headed off to the bedroom.

 **Ritz-Carlton Central Park Lobby, 5:15 PM, Monday May 14, 2012**

Penny and Leonard were waiting in the lobby for the rest of the show people. After their lovemaking, they took a short nap, and started getting ready around four PM. They were finished early, which was why they were waiting for everyone. Finally Jim and Kelli arrived. They were saying their hellos, when Jeanie, Dave, and his wife Pam came walking up.

They were all standing around and waiting for Brent. When 5:30 came, they waited for five more minutes. Jim made a short call and five minutes later, Tina came down, and said there was no answer when she knocked on Brent's door, so they left without him, for the short drive to the restaurant. At the restaurant, Penny noticed Jim and Kelli were familiar with the host, as he greeted them warmly. They were seated, the menu's were passed out, and drinks were ordered.

Penny was looking at the menu, and was shocked. She leaned over and whispered to Leonard, "Look at these prices, I don't know what kind of food prix fixe is, but $350 with wine is more than I pay for food in a month."

Leonard nodded and whispered back, "I know, it's more than we pay for eating out in a month."

Jeanie, sitting next to Penny, must have overheard them, as she poked Penny, leaned behind her and also whispered, "Don't worry about the prices, they are trying to thank us. As for the tab, they are going to take this off their company's taxes as an entertainment expense. The thing called Price Fixe, is just a set meal, that can vary each day. It's for people who want to try a variety of the food here, and get it with the wine option, you can get it without the wine, for $275."

"What's so special about the wine?" Penny asked.

"There's a special person who knows wine, and how it interact with particular food" said Jeanie. "He's called a sommelier. They pick specific wines that will bring out the flavor of the meal."

This was all new to Leonard and Penny, so they thanked Jeanie, and ordered the prix fixe item with the wine option. While waiting for their food, Penny looked at her place setting, leaned over and said softly to Jeanie, "How do you know what fork or spoon to use?"

Jeanie smiled, remembering her first time at a fancy dinner, "If they don't bring one with the course, just use the utensils from the outside in. If you're not sure, just watch what the others do, they've done this before." Penny then told Leonard how to handle the forks and such.

The meal went well. Penny felt relaxed throughout the meal and the conversation was very informative. All the others passed along information for Penny on how to answer the press the next day. Kelli and Jim also gave Penny some tips on what to do the next night at the William Morris party.

During desert, both Leonard and Penny thanked Kelli and Jim for the meal, telling them they both felt it was one of the best meals they ever had. Penny was really happy with the different wines that were served with different courses during the meal. Prior to this, wine was something with alcohol, that tasted good enough for her to drink enough to get drunk. She did mention she was surprised at how the wine could make the food seem to taste better, and the food could make the wine taste better.

It was almost nine PM when they finished their dinner, and got up to leave. Their limo took them back to the hotel. After arriving at the hotel, Penny thanked all of them profusely for their tip and hints, explaining she was so new and was happy she had some idea of what to do. Before getting to the elevator, Jim and Kelli reminded them they had to be at the Broadcast Center at 9:30, to be prepared for the 10:00 Press conference.

Tina told them the limo would leave at eight AM and nine AM. Jim, Kelli, and herself would be going early, but the actors could get the nine AM limo. She also mentioned that there would be breakfast at the broadcast center. At that, they walked to the elevators and headed to their rooms.

 **A/N If anyone cares, the events, locations and times for the CBS Upfronts, and the agency parties in 2012, are** **real. The restaurants La Bernardin and The Modern are real restaurants. In addition Josh Gad was actually within weeks of ending his run in "The Book of Mormon", and had been nominated for a Tony. I thought it would be fun to add him in, as Kaley actually worked with him in "The Wedding Ringer" and on "Lip Synch Battle".**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N This ran a bit long, simply because I wanted to finish the trip to New York. Again, the dates, times, and locations for the events are all where and when those events took place, although, obviously, anything including Penny and her show are a figment of my imagination. Speaking of which, I suppose I should throw a disclaimer in here, it's been seven or so chapters, so, I don't own any of the major characters, they all belong to Lorre, Prady, and Warner Brothers.**

 **Chapter 16**

 **CBS Broadcast Center, 9:45 AM, Tuesday May 15, 2012**

Penny and Leonard had taken the nine AM limo, Dave and Pam were there also, and they arrived early. Penny's new pass got through, and then she vouched for Leonard so he could get a guest pass. Dave did the same for Pam. Just as they finished getting their passes, Tina came in and said hi. She directed them to the same studio from the previous day where there, again, was a table with pastries, fruit, juice and coffee. Tina then said she had to go find the others and left.

It was still a surprise to Leonard and Penny to hear people using the name Penelope. A couple of times it took a few seconds to realize it was Penny they were calling.

All four grabbed various pastries and fruit and found a table where they sat and talked. Dave was interested in talking physics with Leonard, while Penny and Pam got to know each other. A bit before 9:30 Jeanie came in, got a cup of coffee and joined them at the table.

It was another ten minutes before Tina, Jim and Kellie came in. They looked around and then Jim looked at Tina, who left. Jim and Kelli each got some coffee and joined them at the table. Kelli, sounding irritated said, "We'll get started after Brent gets here."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, until Tina and Brent walked in. Tina walked up to Kelli and whispered to her. Brent poured some coffee, then came to the table and sat down.

Kelli, still sounding irritated, said, "Now that were all here, we can start. First off, the schedule is in your packet, there is no reason for anyone to be late for the times we have scheduled. Brent, you want to pick up women, fine, but do it on your own time. Be here on time for the rest of the week."

Brent looked down. "Now," she continued softer. "Today should be pretty calm. Most of the people here today aren't from the bigger news outlets. So it won't be so intense as it will be tomorrow, after the presentation. Penelope, don't be surprised if you don't get much of anything as far as questions go, most of people won't know who you are, they'll think you some sort of production person. However, if someone does come to you're and asks questions, just be yourself, but don't talk about the plot of the pilot or say too much about your character, or the other characters, OK?"

Penny nodded.

"We'll be moving over to the other studio, here, in a few minutes. If you hear something about the 'ballroom', that is the other studio. They will announce our show, and then us. In order it will be Jim, me, Jeanie, Dave, Brent, and Penelope. Then it will just be mingling. OK, everyone ready?"

They all murmured yes and got up from the table. They followed Jim out of the studio and through the hallways, until Jim stopped at a door. He turned and said, "Leonard, Pam, Tina will take you into the back of the room, you can meet with your girlfriend and husband after the introductions, OK?"

Pam and Leonard nodded, then Tina was leading them around the corner, to another entrance to the room. Jim turned back to the cast of his show, "Everybody ready?"

They all nodded, and Jim opened the door, and entered. Penny saw Jim hand a women there a card. Jim was further ahead and as she went through the door, the lights came up and walking into the light, she was temporarily blinded, but she heard. "The creators and cast from "Tales of the City"… creators Jim and Kelli Waldman, Jeanie Corbette, Dave Collura, Brent Crawford, and Penelope Jensen. Penny continued following Brent, listening to, and enjoying the applause.

 **Ritz-Carlton Central Park, NY 11:00 PM, Tuesday May 15, 2012**

Penny and Leonard were preparing for bed and talking about their day. The press meet and greet went well. As predicted, Penny hadn't gotten much attention. Most of that went to Jeanie and Dave. Those two always had some kind of circle around them.

Brent had a smaller circle and Penny had exactly three people talk to her. Two asked her a couple of questions and the other walked away after asking her name, and not recognizing it.

Leonard had spent time talking to Pam and playing around on his phone, he even let Pam use it for a while. They were both joking and laughing about there being no reason for them to be there.

Four PM came and the actors and producers left the ballroom and gathered in the studio. Jim and Kelli talked about some of the questions they were asked, and then they asked the others about their experience. It was just over an hour later when Kelli told them they were free until two PM the next day.

They offered everyone a ride back in the limo, but Jeanie said she was going to get a taxi and head for dinner. She asked Leonard and Penny if they wanted to come with her, and they both accepted. Jim reminded them to be in the lobby at 8:30 so they could all go to the party together.

They had a nice leisurely dinner at Ruth Chris', with Jeanie asking various questions about Penny and Leonard, trying to learn more about them. When the bill came, Jeanie took it, insisting on paying. Both Penny and Leonard objected, until Jeanie pointed out that she was in a much better position than either of them to take care of it, and for them not to worry about it.

After dinner they went back to the hotel, to get ready for the party. At 8:30 they were in the lobby, to meet Jim and Kelli. Jeanie joined them a few minutes later, and within seconds after Jeanie, so did Jim and Kelli. It was a short drive to where the party was being held.

Penny saw many TV and movie stars there along with producers and directors Penny she recognized. Penny was excited, and a bit overwhelmed to see all the stars. Leonard, not knowing most of the stars spent a lot of the night in a corner.

Kelli and Jim introduced Penny to quite a few people, including some agents. Several of those agents spent some times talking to her, and a couple of them gave Penny their cards and told her to call when she was back in New York for the production of the show. Jeanie introduced Penny to her agent and she gave Penny her card and told her to call her anytime.

Around 10:30 Jim reminded Penny and Jeanie that tomorrow was an important day, and they were getting ready to head back to the hotel. Jeanie and Penny both were ready to go, and so Penny collected Leonard and they all waited for their limo, which took them back to the hotel.

Penny and Leonard had finished their preparations for bed, and pulling back the covers to climb into bed, when Leonard spoke, "So, how did you like the party?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "In some ways it was over the top for me. But, I suppose I'll get used to it."

"You think you're going to change your agents?"

"I'll see how it goes," said Penny. "If I'm here, and my agent is back in California, it may not be very handy for me. With a national agency, it wouldn't matter where I was. It is something to think about."

"Well, it's time for bed," said Leonard. "So, good night."

"Hold on there, mister," said Penny pulling him toward her, into a hug. "You're not getting off that easy, I have plans for you."

"But we're supposed to get to bed early, so we're ready for the big day tomorrow, right?"

"We'll be well rested," said Penny, "we don't have to be there until two, but I want to be there at one. But, even at one, we can get enough sleep." She kissed Leonard deeply and he gave in to the inevitable.

 **Carnegie Hall, NY 4:15 PM, Wednesday May 16, 2012**

Penny was nervous. She never expected to be on stage at Carnegie Hall, and here she was standing off stage, watching the cast of CBS' top show, "NCIS" joking around. The people in the audience were laughing and giggling at most of their lines. _We're supposed to be the comedy, and they are all funny. How are we supposed to top that? I wish Leonard was here, he'd say something to calm me down._

But Leonard was in the audience, waiting for Penny to come on, so all Penny could do was worry. Finally, she heard Mark Harmon say it was time for them to leave, the applause got louder, and she watched as that cast came off the stage. Mark Harmon looked at them and as he passed them he said, "Great audience, you guys will have fun."

There was a ten minute wait, to allow the audience to get another glass of whatever was being offered or head to the men's or ladies' room. Finally, she heard the announcer, 'And now, the creators of the new comedy, _Tales of the City_ Jim and Kelli Waldman.' They could hear the applause as Jim and Kelli walked out.

"Next, you know him as Captain Avery from several Marvel movies, please welcome, Dave Collura." Dave walked out, waving, and stood next to Kelli.

"You may know her as Carrie's boss from season four of "Sex and the City", or one of the characters or guest stars in several recent TV shows and movies, Jeanie Corbette." Jeanie also walked out waving to the audience.

"You will recognize our next cast member from his numerous guest staring appearances in both drama and comedy television shows, along with three movie appearances in the last year, Brent Crawford." Brent didn't wave, didn't even acknowledge the audience as he walked out and stood next to Jeanie.

"And finally, our next actress is appearing on her first TV show, and so, we are pleased to be the ones to introduce, Penelope Jensen." Penny didn't remember walking out, but she had her phone out, recording the audience. She was also waving, until she got to Brent and turned and faced the audience.

The audience applauded for a couple of minutes and then several questions were asked of Kelli and Jim, which they answered. Finally Jim said, "We've brought a preview clip from our pilot. Let's get the lights down, and can we run that now?"

The lights went down, and the clip started. Penny actually laughed several times, one time at one of her lines, and another at her facial expression. It was the first time Penny really understood what the producers and the other actors were saying about her facial expression. After fifteen minutes, the clip ended the audience applauded.

Some press were there asking questions. Dave was asked what it was like to go from Marvel movies to sitcoms and Jeanie was similarly asked about moving from single cam drama. Both answered it was different, but fun, and a bit easier. Brent was asked about having a steady role, instead of all the guest staring spots and admitted it was going to be nice to know when he would be working.

The next questions skipped Penny and went back to Jim. Then there were several more for Dave and Jeanie, and two more for Brent. Finally, someone asked Penny what it was like to be here, with all this fan fair, in her first show. Penny had to think about it for a few seconds, and said, "I'm just pinching myself, wondering what I'm doing up here with the rest of the cast. This is like a dream come true for me, and I feel a bit like a fish out of water."

They asked Jeanie a question, and she said, "Before we go on, I just want to say, Penelope, you belong here. Your timing and facial expressions are so, so good." She turned to the audience, "You all saw it in the clip. All of you out there will be making a big deal of her by the end of the season, you just watch."

Penny looked embarrassed and thanked Jeanie. Jeanie went on to answer the question, and afterward, Jim said it was time for them to go. They all waved and started walking off, to quite loud applause.

The press reception at Lincoln center was quite different for Penny, from the press meeting the day before. Penny had her own circle of people from the trade papers, and even regular newspapers were interested.

Many of them were drawn to her by her self-deprecation and naiveté about her acting ability. It was also interesting to see the reaction to her honest answers. Minding Jim and Kelli's warning, she didn't say anything about the other cast members, or about the show. But, she gave humorous answers about herself, her childhood in Nebraska, and her life in California.

Jeanie and Dave had come over several times to see how she was doing, and they also had pictures taken with Penny. Penny also had quite a few taken by herself. She, didn't seem nervous at all, in fact, she looked like she was enjoying the experience.

Leonard stood off to the side with Pam, while Dave when through the same thing. He was fascinated by all the attention that was paid to Penny. Pam gave him some tips on how to handle being a significant other of a star.

Around 9 PM, the crowd started to thin out, and Leonard suggested they head back to the hotel. Penny wasn't so sure as she was thoroughly enjoying herself, but after seeing the others preparing to leave, Penny nodded and they both headed off to their room for the night.

 **Ritz Carlton, NY 8:15 AM, Thursday May 17, 2012**

Early the next morning, Penny got a call from Jim, telling her a copy of the New York Times had been left outside her door, and she needed to look at the entertainment section. She hurriedly opened the door and brought the paper in, woke Leonard up and started looking for the entertainment section.

There, in the lower right corner, on the front page of the entertainment section was a picture of Penny, with the headline:

 **Self-described "terrible waitress"**

 **adjusting to starring in sitcom**

A very nice and complementary write up accompanied the picture. Penny was very excited about it, and wanted to call their friends in California. With a chuckle, Leonard explained that it was only five AM in California.

They ordered room service for breakfast, and after eating, spent most of the day lounging around in their room. They both went for a massage late in the morning and around two PM, headed to the CBS Broadcast Center, to get ready for the Warner Brothers press event. Many of the people working now noticed Penny, and were offering congratulations on the article.

Arriving at the Warner Brothers event, Penny was surprised by all the attention she was receiving, not realizing there were other articles ,in other outlets, which had heightened interest in her. Reporters who hadn't bothered with her the day before, were now asking her questions. Leonard was again bemused by all the attention paid to Penny and he again found himself talking to Pam, off in a quiet corner.

This event ran shorter than the CBS event, simply because Warner Brothers wasn't selling any ad time. Leonard and Penny found themselves back in their room by 9:30 PM, and they again enjoyed a leisurely lovemaking session in their room.

 **Ritz Carlton, NY 8:15 AM, Thursday May 17, 2012**

Leonard and Penny woke up at 8 AM and dressed for their trip to the Statue of Liberty. Before leaving, they had breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and after breakfast, they took a cab to Battery Park and caught the ferry to the Liberty Island.

The spent a few hours walking around the island, touring the museum, and had lunch in the cafe on the island. They thought about climbing the statue, but after a brief discussion of Leonard's asthma, they decided against it. At 2 PM, they decided to head back, so they could get a nap in, before dinner and the show.

It was almost a repeat of the dinner on Monday, as before, Brent hadn't shown up for dinner. They took the limo to the restaurant, Leonard and Penny's confusion about the menu, and their uncertainty about the utensils. But, as before, they simply ordered the Prix Fixe menu, and used Jeanie's idea for the utensils.

What was different at this meal was the discussion about Penny's experience. Dave and Jeanie, along with Kelli and Jim were all asking about how she was enjoying it. Penny sounded really happy about it, she told Jeanie it was like her dreams come true, what she imagined when she came to LA. Penny also thanked all of them, for all the help they had provided her both in New York, and during shooting.

After dinner, they got into the limo, to take them to a show. Dave and Pam weren't going to go, as they had seen "The Book of Mormon" previously, so they were dropped off at the hotel. Jeanie was looking forward to this, as she knew two people in the show.

Everyone enjoyed the show. Penny was excited at seeing her first Broadway show. And after the show, Kelli and Jim led them backstage, to the actor, Josh Gad's, dressing room. Josh was glad to see them, and seemed enthused to meet Jeanie, Penny and Leonard. While Kelli and Jim talked to Josh, Jeanie left to see her friends.

After about thirty minutes, Jeanie returned, Kelli and Jim said their goodbye's and they all left, heading back to the hotel. Getting there, Jeanie said she was going to the bar to have a drink, while Leonard and Penny were going to their room.

Jeanie left, and Jim and Kelli pulled Leonard and Penny off to a quiet spot in the lobby. Jim said, "I want to thank you for everything this week. Penn-e-lope," He smiled at the almost slip, "for someone who hasn't had to go through this before, you handled yourself very well this week. I want to tell you, I think Jeanie is going to be right, about you being made a big deal by the end of the year."

"Now, your flights home are on Sunday. So enjoy your day tomorrow, and we'll get together over the next few weeks. Again, thank you." With that, Jim and Kelli headed to their elevator, and Penny and Leonard left for their room.

Saturday was a lazy day for them. They went to the Central Park zoo in the morning, walk around a bit in the park and finished with a ride on the Carousel. In the afternoon, they did a bit of shopping, Penny looking for shoes and a blouse or two. They found a Thai restaurant for dinner and capped off the evening packing, and having sex together for the last time in New York. They did the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant before finishing their packing, calling Bernadette to give her their flight number and landing time, and heading off to the airport, for their flight home.


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N My internet connection will be limited and erratic over the next week, do to repairs and upgrades on my house. As a result, I'm getting this out today and will not have another chapter until next Wednesday, sorry. As for this chapter, note the last comment, before the ending A/N.**

 **Chapter 17**

 **Cal Tech Laser Lab, Friday May 25, 2012**

Leonard was putting his notes in order, to send to Geoff at Oxford. School was almost over and he would be closing the laser lab for the summer. He and Penny had made some plans for the end of June into July and he wanted to get Geoff's data, so he could combined his and Geoff's, then send the combined data back to Geoff, before starting those plans. However, he hadn't heard back from Geoff in almost a week and he was wondering if he was going to get the data as he'd been promised. At the end of the day, Leonard decided to send Geoff a message to call him Monday morning to discuss it.

 **Cal Tech Laser Lab, Monday May 28, 2012**

Leonard was unlocking his lab on Monday morning and he heard his phone ringing. Rushing in and picking it up he said, "This is Dr Hofstadter."

"Leonard, Geoff here."

"How are you doing Geoff?" said Leonard.

"I'm doing fine," said Geoff. "You asked me to call, what do you need?"

"I'm trying to get my notes together to send you," said Leonard. "But I need the rest of the data you said you were going to send me. I'm also getting ready to close up my lab, so I was wondering if you were going to be able to send them?"

"Of course," said Geoff. "I'm sorry, but I'm quite far behind here. We're down two lecturers and one of those is supposed to also be working on research. So, I'm working my position as a lecturer and researcher, along with doing the same for another open position, and someone else is having to fill another lecturer, besides their own work. So, please forgive me, for not getting back to you. I'm getting ready to leave now, but I will get the data out to you tomorrow, you should have it when you get into the office."

"No, I understand why you're busy," said Leonard, "Of course you have other work to do, do that and get the data to me when you are able."

"No, no, I will get to it tomorrow," said Geoff, "because I want to get your notes."

"OK, thanks Geoff, bye."

"You're welcome Leonard, thank you, goodbye."

 **Apartment 4B, Friday June 01, 2012**

Penny and Leonard had been back from New York for a couple of weeks when she got a call from her agent. Jim and Kelli needed her to come down to Warner Brothers, the next Monday, and told her she would be spending the day, something about shooting some ads.

Penny went there on Monday and found Jeanie and Dave there. They filmed several promo spots, but in between the shots, they mostly were just goofing around with each other. Penny felt extremely comfortable with these two, and was glad she was going to be working with them.

She told both of them, and tried to apologize ahead of time for any problems she may cause because this was her first time working on a series. Dave and Jeanie told her not to worry about it. They repeated that if she came in prepared and was willing to learn, even if she was making mistakes, there wouldn't be any problems with them. The both explained it was similar to their first experiences, They were unsure about all the processes and the little things about production, and made mistakes. They also mentioned they were lucky that they were only guest stars, instead of being a major part of the cast. They both said mistakes weren't as bad when they weren't expected to carry as much of the show as Penny was. Penny thanked them profusely.

 **Apartment 4A, Friday June 8, 2012**

Leonard was working on the math for his detection idea. He had been working steadily since getting the data from Geoff, and he was hoping to get it finished by next week, so he could get the files to Geoff.

Amy and Sheldon walked into the apartment, and they and Leonard exchanged greetings with each other.

Leonard said, "Sheldon, I need to talk to you."

"What about, Leonard?"

"Penny and I won't be around towards the end of June though the middle of July. We are going to be on vacation."

"That's not acceptable," said Sheldon, petulantly, "who's going to drive me to work?"

"School's out for the summer, we don't have to be in all the time," said Leonard patiently, "so if you have to go in," he turned to Amy, "Amy, you wouldn't mind taking him to work, would you Amy?"

"Then, who is going to drive me to get food, to my dentist, to all the various places I need to go?"

I can drive you," said Amy excitedly.

"That's not good enough, Leonard, you will be here to drive me…"

"I don't know what to tell you Sheldon," said Leonard, putting some papers away. "If you want to give me a hard time, I will simply move across the hall and you can find everything on your own. Or, you can accept Amy driving you while Penny and I are gone. And I'll be back to drive you starting again at the end of July."

"No," said Sheldon, "you were already gone a few weeks ago. By the roommate agreement, you need to stay here to take care of me and …"

"OK, fine, Sheldon," said Leonard, "I'll start moving in a few days."

"And I won't take you either," added Amy.

Sheldon looked at both of them, "OK, fine," he said sounding irritated, "I guess I have no choice. Amy, come over to my desk, we'll have to create a schedule for you." Sheldon turned and headed toward his desk. Leonard smiled and winked at Amy, she smiled at him, nodded and then walked over to Sheldon's desk.

 **Apartment 4B, June 09, 2012**

Penny, Amy, and Bernadette were finally having a girls night, their first one since Penny got back from New York. In fact, it was the first time they had all been together since Penny returned. As a result, the girls were eager to hear about the trip.

Penny told them about the dinners, seeing a clip of the show and about their room. Then she explained about the press conferences, and the presentation, explaining how nervous she had been. During her story, the other two questioned her about things they were interested in.

Amy and Bernadette talked about the articles in the various newspapers and trade papers. Amy talked about being in the New York Times, at which Penny had to smile. All she had done was mentioned her girlfriends, Amy and Bernadette, back in California. Then Penny talked about seeing the Empire State Building, Central Park, the zoo, and riding on the carousel. Amy and Bernadette were really interested in Penny getting asked for her autograph at the Statue of Liberty. They wanted to know specifics about getting asked for her first autograph. Penny was giggly as she told them everything that had happened, and how she felt.

They had been there about an hour, and were taking turns at heading for the bathroom. At one point, they met at the kitchen island to refill on their wine glasses. While they each filled their glasses, Penny told them how much fun it had been. Then she told them about the promos they had shot, how the other actors were so welcoming, and supportive and how she felt it was going to be so great. Finally, Penny asked each of them how their lives were going, as she hadn't heard anything from them.

Bernadette told her how she missed Howard, but at least she could talk to him a couple of times a week and they could exchange emails. Then she complained about having to do the things Howard used to do for his mother. She also said some nice things about Raj, as he had been helping her. Amy told Penny how her and Bernadette had gone through the wedding gifts and she explained, to Penny, about her five year plan to marry Sheldon. Although, she had been upset with him, when he not only had Raj find a place for their dinner, but also invited Raj along to celebrate the two year anniversary of their meeting.

She stopped for a few seconds and said, "Hey, Penny, Leonard asked me to drive Sheldon around for a few weeks coming up. I really don't mind, but where are you and Leonard going?"

Penny almost did a spit take, then said, "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well," said Amy, "Leonard asked me if I could take Sheldon around because you and him were going somewhere."

"Yeah, OK," said Penny resignedly, "I'm taking him on a getaway, even he doesn't know where. We're going for a week, we'll be home for a few days, then leave again for two weeks."

"So," said Bernadette conspiratorially, "where are you going?"

"Well, the second two weeks," said Penny, "we're going to visit my parents. My mom's never met Leonard, so I thought it would be a good time for that."

"Ooooooohhhhh," said Bernadette, "are you guys thinking of getting married?"

Penny thought for second, then decided not to try to explain their agreement, "No, were not close to that yet, I just wanted to go home before I go to New York, and thought I'd bring Leonard along. He's already met my dad, so why not my mom?"

"Ok, ok, what about the first week?" asked Amy

"That's a secret," said Penny. "I'll tell you when we get back."

"Awwwww, c'mon Penny," said Bernadette, "You can tell us, we won't say anything."

"Nope," said Penny, "I'm not telling. Now, how about we watch the movie I got. It's 'Sex and the City'. This came out before we would get together to watch movies. The next one should be 'Sex and the City 2', how's that?" Amy and Bernadette nodded and Penny put it in the player and started the movie.

Two hours later the movie ended and while they were cleaning up, Bernadette said, "So when do you go to New York?"

"I leave here on Sunday the 29th of July. I'll start getting settled in, move into my apartment. On the first of August, we start doing some things in the studio, I'll, get other personal things taken care of, probably shoot some promo things. Then we get our scripts the week after and then start production on the 8th of August."

Amy was looking at her phone. "That means, we will have your going away party on the 28th of July."

"You guys don't have to throw me a party."

"Come on Bestie," said Amy, "You know we do"

Penny nodded, then sighed, giving in. The women continued picking up.

For the next two weeks, Penny and Leonard made a list and went over things Penny would need in New York. Clothes, papers, toiletries, and some furniture were put on the list. Toward the end of the two weeks, they got together to pack for their trip, Leonard still not knowing where they were going.

 **Apartment 4B, 5 PM, Sunday July 1, 2012**

Sheldon and Amy had been out buy some things for Sheldon and were climbing the stair to the fourth floor. Upon arriving on the fourth floor, they saw the door to 4B was open. "Bestie," yelled Amy as she ran through the open door. Sheldon was more subdued, but followed Amy in.

Penny was removing their clothes from the suitcases, but looked up when Amy yelled. "So where did you guys go?" asked Amy.

"I took him to Hawaii," said Penny with a smile. "We mostly did touristy things, shopping, laying on the beach, sightseeing, I took him to a volcano..."

"Geology?" said Sheldon incredulously, "why would you do that?"

"Leonard said he enjoyed it, Sheldon, so be quiet." She turned back to Amy, "I even got him out dancing." Amy tried to ask a question, but Penny said, "I'm sorry Amy, I have to get these unpacked and sorted out. Those I'm leaving, those I'm washing, and also pick out some other clothes we'll take, Leonard's washing the first batch right now, as we leave in two days for Nebraska. I'll talk to you later."

Amy looked disappointed, but she nodded and her and Sheldon left. The two days later, Penny and Leonard took off for Nebraska and two week later they were back.

 **Apartment 4B, 8 PM, Friday July 20, 2012**

Amy and Bernadette had come over to Penny's for girl's night. First they wanted to know about Hawaii, So Penny told them about the whole wee, and after a refill of their wine, Amy and Bernadette asked about the trip to Omaha.

Penny said they basically just took things easy. She introduced Leonard to her mom, and had taken Leonard around to show him various places in Omaha, she had been when she was growing up. Her dad took Leonard around the farm, showing him how the equipment worked and how a farm was run. She excitedly told Amy and Bernadette how she had even taught Leonard to ride horse. Well, not a horse exactly, but a large pony. It had been hers when she was a a child and teenager. With a laugh she proudly told them that Leonard had only fallen off once.

They reminded her about the going away party in another week. Penny nodded and said she'd be there. Then Penny pulled out the movie for the night, and it was the one Penny had said she would get for the next girl's night, "Sex and the City 2". They all refilled their wine glasses, and then Penny put the movie in, and they began watching.

 **Apartment 4A, 11 PM July 28, 2012**

Penny's going away party went very well. In addition to the gang, Bernadette had invited some of Penny's friends who watched Nebraska games with her, along with several waitresses Penny knew from The Cheesecake factory. The party began to break up around ten PM, while the gang stayed later to help clean up Apartment 4A. Finally, everyone was getting ready to leave and Penny, Amy, Bernadette and Raj were crying, and even Leonard looked teary-eyed. Sheldon, while not crying, looked as if even he was affected.

Raj and Bernadette left, and Leonard and Penny said goodnight to Sheldon and Amy and asked Amy to be at 4B by eleven the next day. Amy was going to drive them to the airport, since Leonard wasn't sure he would be able to handle driving after Penny left.

Then they left to go to 4B, Penny did another check of her clothes, her papers and was going back to check on her clothes again when Leonard told her everything was ready, it was time for bed.

Leonard led her to the bedroom, and no one had to initiate sex, they just started kissing as soon as they got into the bedroom. They started out gently, but their lovemaking became urgent and desperate, both finishing out of breath and sweating. They cleaned up and fell asleep with Leonard's right arm over Penny, with his fingers entwined with Penny's left hand.

They got up at nine AM, got dressed and headed off to a local restaurant named Marston's for brunch. They finished about an hour later and got back to the apartment at 10:30. Penny changed, and did final checks on her luggage and papers. Most of her clothes had already been shipped, along with a couple of small pieces of furniture.

At eleven, Amy and Sheldon came to the door. Amy grabbed Penny's small suitcases, and headed down the stairs. Penny had her purse, reached in and pulled out a keychain, with a pink symbol on it.

Penny handed it to Leonard, "I need you to hold onto my apartment key."

"Oh, an ankh," said Leonard, "Do you know what this symbol means?"

"No, I was given it and it was the right size to fit in my purse, what does it mean…"

"Leonard and Penny," said Sheldon, "come on, you're going to be late, it's time to go."

"Sheldon," said Penny, "Leonard was going…"

"Now, come on," said Sheldon, now standing between Penny and Leonard.

"We're coming," said Leonard as he closed the door. Penny, who had grabbed her small carryon, and Sheldon headed down the stairs, leaving the big suitcase on the landing. Leonard locked the door and then picked up Penny's large piece of luggage and walked down the stairs himself. They all got into the car for the 45 minute drive to the airport.

Penny and Leonard were standing just outside the terminal. Sheldon, as he had last time, was complaining about Amy parking in the red zone. He kept bugging her and she finally told Leonard, before pulling off to go around, she would continue to go around the airport, until she saw him waving her down.

Leonard and Penny took her luggage into the terminal, and dropped it off at the counter, while Penny checked in. They made their way to the security entrance, with Penny just holding on to Leonard's arm. They stopped, just holding on to each other, talking softly. Finally Leonard said, "It's time Penny, you have to go."

"I know," said Penny. "I'll try to Skype every night. If I get to bed around 11, I'll call around 7:30 here."

"Hey," said Leonard with a smile, "you got that right."

"I've been working on it," said Penny with a sad smile.

"I'm going to miss you," said Leonard.

"I'm going to miss you too," said Penny, pulling him into a hug.

They held on tightly, both of them lightly sobbing, until Penny moved her head back, they looked into each other's eyes, both rimmed with tears and she whispered, "I love you."

Leonard, looking back, replied, "I love you, too."

They kissed for a few seconds, then went back into a hug, really just clinging to each other. Finally, Leonard back off a bit, and though Penny tried to hold on, he broke the hug. Looking at her he said, "You've got to go."

"I know," said Penny, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Bye Leonard, I'll call tonight, I love you."

He wiped the tear off of her cheek, and said, "Bye, Penny, I'll be waiting for your call, I love you."

Penny, eyes started filling with tears again, but she turned and started walking away. Leonard watched for a few seconds, his own tears clouding his view of Penny, then she went around a corner and disappeared. With that, Leonard walked out of the terminal, looking to flag Amy's car down.

 **End of Part one.**

 **A/N Shameless self-promotion. Since I won't be able to put up another chapter on this, and if you have to have a Penny and Leonard in Hawaii or Nebraska story, I have one of each. They are both stand alone and not tied into this story, but they do have Penny and Leonard in Omaha and Hawaii, so if you haven't read them, and want to, they are, "The In-Law Initiation-Nebraska" and "The Vacation Surprise" and both are here on fan fic.**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N Well, all the work is finished on the house, and here is chapter 18, Penny's first few days in New York. BTW, chapter 18, is really the 19th I've put out, the result of naming the first one the Prologue. So, don't let that fool you, just go by the name of the chapter, not the number FF puts on it. Without internet this weekend, I managed to write the first draft of three more chapters 36,37,38. As you all know, I try to stay 20 chapters ahead. Just in case real life interferes with writing, I can still keep publishing so you all can keep reading.**

 **Part 2**

 **Chapter 18**

 **Studio 44, Ten AM, New York, July 30, 2012**

Penny was waiting in Studio 44, her three pieces of luggage sitting next to her. After her flight arrived in New York, she had taken the limo that had been sent for her to the Ritz-Carlton again, to spend the night. However, this time, she had a regular room, without a view of Central Park

She had ordered dinner from room service and while she was eating, Tina had called her, telling her to be at the CBS Broadcast Center, in studio 44, and to bring her luggage with her. They would be taking her to the apartment she would be living in during the time they would be taping the show.

So, she was now in studio 44, looking around at her show's almost completed set. She was amazed at how much of the set had been completed, as they had moved it from Warner Brothers in California to here. There were only several more panels off to one side, they would be putting up over the next several days to complete the set. The show was to officially start production next Wednesday, with the first table read. But, Penny supposed, constructing the set and the ongoing installation of the lights above the set, counted as pre-production.

Tina came in with a sharp dressed lady. She introduced her as Tammy Harris, the person in charge of housing for the actors. She explained it was her job to find a place for the actors to stay, and then take care of any problems they may have. Her and Penny said their hellos to each other, then Tina explained that Tammy would get Penny to her apartment. Tina reminded Penny there would be a meeting for all production people on Thursday, at ten AM, then Tina said goodbye, saying she had a writing staff meeting to run to. Tammy pulled out her phone, dialed, then spoke into her phone. Within seconds, a rather large guy came in and Tammy introduced him as Phil. Tammy pointed at Penny's luggage and Phil scooped it up and carried it out.

Tammy started walking and explained her luggage would be there by the time they arrived. She suggested they walk, so Tammy could point out different things and locations in the neighborhood. Penny was glad she was wearing her flats as they left the broadcast center, on 57th, and walked east to tenth avenue, north on tenth for a block, then turned east on 58th street for a half a block.

They stopped in front of a six story building, and Tammy showed Penny what the building's entry code was, and how to enter the code into the electronic door lock, then took her to the third floor, and to her apartment, 314. Penny inwardly laughed, as she remembered it was Amy's apartment number and the digits for pi.

Tammy showed Penny which of the three keys worked what device(one door, two deadbolts) and they entered the apartment. From the door, there was an eight foot long foyer, with two pictures hanging on each wall. At the end of the foyer, and to the left, was a hallway. Tammy first took Penny down that hallway. To the left was the bathroom. Looking in, Penny saw a tub, with a shower, toilet, and sink in a rather large counter.

Continuing another few steps down the hallway she came to a door which led into the bedroom. In the bedroom was a dresser on the near wall, and two nightstands, with a queen bed between them, on the far wall. There was a walk-in closet, that was bigger than her and Leonard's closets put together. Penny also noticed that her luggage was now on the bed.

Coming back out of the bedroom, Penny could see where the wall of the foyer ended was a counter, which connected to the kitchen. there were three stools next to it. Turning left, they walked around the counter, into the kitchen. It had a range, oven, microwave, fridge, and dishwasher. At the back of the kitchen, enclosed in folding doors, was a space with a washer and dryer. Penny also found there was a garbage disposal.

Coming out of the kitchen there was a small dining area, with a circular table and four chairs. To the right were mirrored sliding doors that held a closet that functioned as a pantry. To the left was a rather long, living area that was about 10 foot wide.

Looking from the dining area, on the right of the living area was a desk just beyond the dining table, and after the desk was an entertainment center with a TV, DVR, and Blue Ray player. To the left was a lounge chair, followed by a large loveseat. In front of the loveseat was a coffee table. On the far wall, under the window, was an end table with European recliners on either side of the table. Everything except the kitchen and bath was carpeted.

Tammy explained that the apartment came with cable and internet. Electric was charged by usage, as was the water. She also told her she could upgrade the cable, but she would have to pay for it. If she wanted she could have a phone installed.

Then Tammy gave Penny the keys, and her card. Telling Penny if she had questions, or something wasn't working right, to give her a call, and she would take care of it. She asked if Penny had any questions. When Penny said no, Tammy said her goodbyes and left.

Penny was thrilled with the apartment. The bedroom, bath and living area were all larger than her apartment in Pasadena, and she now had an almost separate dining area. While the kitchen was smaller, overall, if you included the dining area adjacent to the kitchen, it was larger than in 4B.

Penny would miss Leonard's help in unpacking. She suddenly became sad, thinking of Leonard. While they had Skyped for an hour while she was in the hotel last night, she felt she needed to talk to him. Looking at the clock, she realized Leonard would be driving to work. With nothing else to do, she headed back to the bedroom, to unpack, and would call Leonard when she finished.

 **Apt 4A, Cal Tech, California, Ten AM, July 30, 2012**

Leonard was sitting in 4A, he was bored. He was waiting to hear back from Geoff with his calculations on the detection. Not only that, but the last ten months, had been spent with Penny, and he had seen her every day before she left, now she was gone and he felt lost without her.

He thought about it, and realized how much he had come to rely on Penny. Well, she was his best friend. After all, he could talk to her about almost anything. He was amused at how many people thought Sheldon was his best friend. But, to be honest, since Christmas it was Penny.

Him and Sheldon had somewhat drifted apart, as Sheldon had gotten more involved with Amy, and he had gotten more involved with Penny. Hell, before she left, he and Penny were practically living together, and about the only time he had been spending in 4A now, was at his computer, or getting a shower early in the morning, so as not to disturb Penny. Of course, there were the group dinners, but that was happening less and less.

Even when they broke up, they managed to stay friends, so, except for some of the time he was with Priya, this was the first time in five years Penny wasn't there for him. Well, except for the couple of weeks just after they broke up and when he had been gone for three months, on the trip to the North Pole. But, that was different. He was there, and the trip kept him quite busy, so there wasn't really time to miss her.

She had told him how hard it had been without him there, how she missed coming over and talking to him. The worst, she said, was she kept expecting him to come over, or how she would start to go over to 4A, and then stop, because she remembered he wasn't there. And now, he thought bitterly, he was getting a taste of those exact feelings.

At least now, he could call her, text her, and Skype with her, so he could see her. Penny didn't have any of that available to her, due to where the guys were. And he now didn't have his other friends either. Howard was in space, and Raj…well they still hadn't really recovered since his attempt to bed Penny. And as a result, he was pretty much alone. _Well,_ he thought, _maybe I can get something done on my detection idea…_

Just then, he heard Penny's ringtone and hurriedly grabbed his phone and said, "Hello."

"Leonard," said Penny, "It's so good to hear you. I miss you."

"I miss you too," said Leonard. "How are you doing?"

"For now, I'm fine. It's going to be a rough couple of days though," said Penny. "I don't have anything to do until Thursday morning. Can I call you a couple of times each day?"

"Of course," said Leonard. "Anytime you feel lonely, give me a call. So, what's going on?"

"Oh, Leonard, I got my apartment," said Penny. It's so cute and bigger than 4B. I was going to call earlier, but I knew you'd be driving to work, so I unpacked first."

"Um…what?" said Leonard. "Penny, it's summer, and I'm off work for another week. I don't start going in regularly until next Wednesday."

"Oh, God," said Penny, "I'm such an idiot."

Leonard chuckled, "No, it's ok. You say you got your apartment?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "Let's go to Skype, and I can show you around the apartment…"

 **Studio 44, CBS, Thursday New York, 9:45 AM, August 2, 2012**

Penny was sitting on the couch of her show apartment. People were slowly coming in. The cast, crew, and production people were all supposed to meet here today. There would be lunch, and Penny was told to mingle around, to meet as many of the production crew as possible.

Penny assumed both Jim and Kelli, along with Tina would be there to start the meeting. She hadn't seen any of the other actors. So, she was looking around, trying to find them. She saw the woman who had done her hair, along with the person who did her make-up. She wanted to talk to them, but she wanted to wait until after the meeting had started. So, she stayed seated and looked for Kelli and Jim.

She saw Brent come in. She hadn't really had a chance to talk to him, just the brief introduction when they first met at the upfronts, which she didn't think went well, so looking to give him another chance, she went up to him and said, "Hi Brent."

"Penelope," said Brent, "it's so good to see you."

"Well, it's good to talk to you," said Penny.

"So, are you and your boyfriend all settled in?"

"Just me, Brent," said Penny. "Leonard had to stay and work on his experiments and also get the lab ready for the school year."

"So, you're alone here?" said Brent with a leer.

Brent's tone and expression in his last statement made Penny think of Howard, and all his sleazy attempts at hitting on her. It made her nervous, making her wary.

She answered with caution, "Yeah, he's not hear right now." She thought quickly, "He'll be coming in a couple of weeks."

"Oh, Ok, we'll, I'll see you around," Brent said, turning and walking away.

Penny was relieved when he walked away, and she continued looking around and saw Jim, Kelli and Tina come in. They didn't go to the podium right away, but were talking to various production crew. Finally, Penny saw Jeanie come in, and excitedly waved at her and Jeanie waved back, walking toward Penny. Jeanie was stopped by different people and usually had a quick few words with the other person.

Finally, she made it to Penny and they hugged each other. Jeanie said, "Penny, I'm so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you Jeanie," said Penny. "But you better keep it Penelope, remember."

"Oh, screw that," said Jeanie. "I can keep your names separate and besides as the only two women on the show, I think were going to become pretty good friends."

"You sure," said Penny, "you're a star and I'm just someone new starting out."

"Penny," said Jeanie with a smile, "You're going to find that people who work on a series become very close. We spend so much time together, we become like a family." A sly grin formed on Jeanie's face, "So, unless you're a total bitch, yes, I'm sure."

They both laughed, then Penny said, "I'm not sure I want to become family with some people." "Brent came over and started asking about if Leonard was here, and it was…was…just creepy."

Jeanie nodded, "I've heard he can also be pretty nice, also. But, I try to stay away. Besides I don't think he'd be all that interested in me, I'm not blond or beautiful, like you, so you need to be more careful than I do."

Penny shuddered. "You may not be blond, but I think you look beautiful. Anyway, I think I'll mostly keep my distance from Brent. So where are you staying?"

Jeanie smiled slyly, "I think you know, my address is 454 West 58th."

Penny's mouth dropped open, "You mean you're in my building? What apartment?"

"I'm in 601," said Jeanie. "I get to look out on the street."

Penny said resignedly, "And I get the view of the back of the building behind us. Yeah, I know who the star is." She stuck her tongue out at her.

Jeanie nodded. "Yeah, I also have a two bedroom."

"Bitch," said Penny laughing.

Jeanie laughed too, "You'll get there. Anyway, you want to go out for dinner tonight? Afterward, you can come up to my apartment and we can kill a bottle or two of wine, and talk."

"Oooooooo, wine, a woman after my own heart," said Penny. "That sounds great."

Just then they both saw Dave walk in. Jim also noticed and walked to the podium and said, "Can I have everyone's attention?" He waited until the noise settled down. "I want to thank everyone for being here today. This is more or less a get together for everyone to get acquainted."

"I know many of us were there when we shot this in LA, but we really didn't have time to talk to each other or get to know each other. In addition, since we moved to New York, we have quite a few new crew members, and a new cast member, so we, Kelli and I, thought it would be good to have this mixer."

"First off," Jim said, "for those who haven't seen the pilot, we're going to run that. Lights down please. Ok, you can watch the monitors or the main screen. Roll it." The lights went down and the pilot ran. Penny was gratified to hear quite a bit of laughter on her lines, and on her facial expressions. The pilot came to an end, and Jim called for the lights to come up.

He looked around, "For those new crew members, I hope you enjoyed that, and now have an idea of what is going to happen on the show. Some of you may have noticed that we have changed the name of the show to _Major's Tales_. The network thinks a short name makes it easier to promote. But, noticed it still includes the name of the lead character. You also may have noticed a few other changes. Basically we had to cut the time down from the 30 minutes it ran, down to the 21 minutes it needed to be, to fit into a half hour broadcast."

"Now, I want to introduce the cast of _Major's Tales._ First off, our lead, and the person who plays the title character, Jeanie Corbette, as Ally Major. Jeanie, come on up here."

Jeanie, to loud applause, walked up to stand next to Kelli, and waved to the crew. "Next we have the man playing Ally's boyfriend, you may know him as Captain Avery, Dave Collura as Bill Roberts." Dave walked up, also to loud applause. He gave Jeanie a kiss on her cheek, then moved to stand next to her.

"Our third cast member, has appeared and guest starred in many shows, Brent Crawford as Jim Burns, who's nickname is 'Hunk'." He walked up to applause, shook hands with Jeanie and Dave, then stood next to him. "Finally, we are very happy to introduce Penelope Jensen as Jess Rogers. This is her first television series, so please give her a big welcome."

To Penny's surprise, the applause for her was almost as big as it was for Jeanie. She walked up, hugged Jeanie, gave Dave a kiss on the cheek, and forced herself to give Brent a kiss on his check. Jim said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the cast of _Major's Tales_."

There was applause again, then Jim said, "We're having food delivered, it's basically a brunch, so please mingle, get to know your co-workers. I'll have the cast up here so anyone wanting to meet them, come on up. Enjoy the day."

The crowd started separating into smaller groups. Penny, although eager to meet many of the crew, was really excited to be having dinner and wine with Jeanie. She was looking forward excitedly to talking with her and, hopefully, becoming a friend of hers.


	20. Chapter 19

**A/N Nothing much, a heads up about minor sexual talk. Other than that, I don't own any of the characters here, well the courier.**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Apt 314, New York, 9:00 AM, Tuesday August 7, 2012**

Penny was sipping coffee at her kitchen table. She was expecting Jeanie to come down and wait together for their scripts to arrive. She was also looking through her email, and was thinking about how the weekend went.

Before going out for dinner, Jeanie had taken Penny to a Bodega just down the street from their place. They had picked up a few packaged meals and drinks for Penny. Around six PM, they went to eat and Jeanie had paid for dinner. They walked back to her apartment, and finished two bottles of wine while they talked.

Penny asked Jeanie quite a few questions about her life, which Jeanie good-naturedly answered. Jeanie told Penny about growing up in a suburb of Boston and going to Boston University, getting her BFA. After graduating, she had moved to New York, getting small parts in several Broadway shows, along with small parts on Law and Order, and Sex and the City. She finally decided to moved to LA, and had gotten parts in movies, and some small parts and recurring roles in Televison.

She admitted working with Jim and Kelli on their shows before, and how they had talked to her about this show a few years ago. They asked her to star in the show, a show based, in part, on Kelli's life. She told Penny their discussion had gone on for a couple of years before everything finally came together.

After that night, it had been a fairly lonely weekend for Penny. Jeanie had left, early Friday, to go to Boston to see her family, so Penny, not really knowing anyone, was left all by herself from Friday to Sunday. She did spend most of all three days talking or Skyping with Leonard, both of them very much missing the other.

On Monday, Jeanie was back and knocked on Penny's door at ten AM. Since Jeanie had lived in the city before, and Penny had only been in the city once, for the Upfronts, Jeanie planned to take Penny around the neighborhood they would be living in for the next nine months.

First, she showed her the various transportation options. The two subway stations that were fairly close and an almost equal distance from the apartment, all the bus stops within two blocks of their apartment building, and finally, she took her to the two taxi stands available in the neighborhood.

Then, they walked around the neighborhood, Jeanie showing Penny a few other Bodegas to get an item quickly, or a quick bite to eat or a drink; the CVS drug store, for medical and personal needs, at the East end of their block; and finally, their last stop for the day, the Morton Williams grocery store next to the CVS, where they each bought a few days worth of food and a few bottles of wine. On their way home, they both grabbed a couple of slices of pizza, and headed back to their apartments where they spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the particular sets and characters of the show, and Penny asked some more about Jeanie.

 **Apt 314, New York, 10 AM Tuesday August 7, 2012**

At ten, Penny heard a knock on her door. It was Jeanie and Penny invited her in. She got Jeanie a cup of coffee and they both sat at the table.

"What time will we get the script?" asked Penny.

"Probably around one or two," said Jeanie. "When we're shooting, we'll get it during the break or right after we finish."

"Oh, cool," said Penny, "well, we got three or four hours before we get it, what should we do?"

For the next hour, Jeanie suggested some other places she would show Penny during the rest of the week. They also talked about how they thought the show was going to go, whether the critics would like it, whether the audience would like it, how long it would be on. Then Penny started to ask Jeanie about her trip home, but Jeanie interrupted.

"You asked me all those questions about myself, over the weekend, how about you answer some of mine about you?"

Penny smile and said, "Seems fair, what do you want to know?"

"Let's see," said Jeanie, "I know about you living in Nebraska, you moved to California and were a waitress. I know what you've worked on, and let me say, you're doing so well, for having so little experience. Hmmmmm, all those friends of your's I met at the taping. All of them have PhD's?

"No, just five of the six," said Penny.

"Just five of six?" asked Jeanie incredulously. "It's that all?"

"Well, Howard has a masters in astronautical engineering." said Penny.

Jeanie rolled her eyes, "Yeah, like that's nothing."

Penny shook her head and continued, "When I first met him, he was always hitting on me, really sleazy, but Bernadette has tamed him somewhat. He's on the Space Station right now."

"Wait, really?" said Jeanie, "you can just throw away a line like that? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds to someone like me?"

"What?" said Penny confused. "How is that ridiculous and what am I throwing out?"

Jeanie shook her head, "You have six friends, five of them have a PhD and the other 'only' has a masters in Astronautical Engineering, and is on the space station. You know someone who's on the space station and you say it like it's no big deal. That is what is ridiculous."

Penny chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I do. I never really thought of it that way, they are all just my friends. Howard's wife, Bernadette, has a PhD in micro…micro…micro…somthing…biology, I think, something to do with yeast. She's making a bunch of money, she works for a pharmaceutical company. She does research and works on developing new drugs. She can be so sweet, but also really mean."

"Raj, excuse me, Rajesh, is from India, and he has a PhD in astrophysics. He can't talk to women. Something called selective mutism. Oh, he can talk to women if he is drinking. But, when he does that, he's a real ass, although Howard says he's a real ass all the time, we just can't hear it. Because of his mutism, he whispers to Howard, who tells us what he said".

"Amy has her PhD in something to do with the brain," said Penny. "Amy is interesting. In some ways, she's like a teenager, she is seriously emotionally stunted. Her mother was really tough on her when she was growing up. Sometime she acts like she's a lesbian, and I'm who she shows affection to. Hmmmmmm, she's kind of a female Sheldon, which I know doesn't help you, but she is starting to become more socially aware."

"Sheldon, ahhhhh, now what can I say about Sheldon. He has a PhD in particle physics, but, boy is he weird. I've heard some say he has something called Asperger's syndrome, but his mother says she had him tested and there's nothing wrong with him. I've heard him described as OCD, he has to have all these lists and schedules. He doesn't drive, doesn't understand sarcasm and he hates change. And he thinks he's better than anyone else. He's not, and he has emotional issues, but he is kinda sweet. He infuriates me sometimes, but he is my friend. Like I said Amy is a female Sheldon, but she is more open to change and outside experiences."

"What about Leonard?"

Penny smiled, "Ahhhhhh, yes, Leonard. He has his PhD in physics." She paused for a second, "You know, I don't know what specific in physics, but he is currently working with lasers, something about detecting something. I'm sorry, I really don't understand a lot of what he does."

Jeanie chuckled, "Well, I wouldn't either. I did a show where I had a bunch of science dialogue, and man it was hard to remember it. It's tough to remember your lines, when you don't know what you're saying. Come on, let's go to lunch."

"What?"

"It's only a half hour to noon," said Jeanie, "There's a Chinese takeout place down the street. We can go get food and be back in twenty or thirty minutes."

It was actually almost 40 minutes, before they got back, then another ten to put out the food. They put it on their plates and then Jeanie said, "Tell me more about Leonard."

Penny smiled, "Let's see, Leonard. You should have seen it when I first met him. He couldn't look at me in the eye, he was so shy. And he's such a nerd. All the guys are really. Science Fiction, comic books, board games, video games, computers, all of that. When I told him Dave was going to be part of the show, he seemed more excited to meet him, 'cause he played Captain Avery, than excited for me getting a regular part on a show."

"He said he fell for me that first minute he met me. It really didn't take me much longer to feel something for him, but I'm the type that avoids commitment. Some woman that worked with him basically had a one night stand with him and I got a little jealous, stupid huh? It was strange, he and Sheldon came into the restaurant and I found out she wasn't really dating him, and I wanted to smile. I had to walk away so he wouldn't see it. It did take me a lot longer to let him know."

"He finally asked me out and we had a good time, but I didn't think I was smart enough for him, and he didn't think he was good enough for me, so we didn't go out again. For the next year, we kept getting closer as friends. He had a relationship, well, I did too. But, then we were both free, but didn't get back to dating."

Penny paused for a minute, her face looking sad as she thought about it, "Then he had to go on an expedition for three months. I couldn't say anything, we weren't dating, but I did get him a blanket with sleeves." She perked up a bit. "When he got back I let him know how I felt and we started dating." Penny got up and went to her bedroom. Coming back out, giving Jeanie a plastic square.

"What is this?" ask Jeanie, looking at it.

"It's a snowflake, preserved in plastic," said Penny with a smile. "It will never melt."

"That is so sweet."

"Yeah, it was, still is," said Penny. "We were together for about nine months, then I did something stupid. He said 'I love you' and I couldn't say it back. I told him I had been burned before by saying it too soon. He told me he would give me time to get used to it. But, I struggled, then was talking to someone who got me thinking, what if I could never say it? That wouldn't be fair to him, so I broke up with him, although I still had feelings for him."

"Why?" asked Jeanie.

"I guess I thought that I would hurt him, if I strung him along."

"Didn't you hurt him by breaking up with him?" asked Jeanie.

"Of course," said Penny sadly, "but I thought it would be worse if I strung it out, so I thought a quick break was better for him." She stopped, again looking sad. "We managed to stay friends, but then he started seriously dating someone and I became a wreck. I still had feelings for him, but it wouldn't have been fair to him to say anything while he was seriously dating someone."

"Then he found out his girlfriend was leaving" Penny paused for a second, deciding not to mention what else happened that night. "They tried a long distance relationship, but it didn't work. I took a chance and after they broke up and told him how I felt. He was understandably wary, and it took a few more weeks before we got back together and another month before I told him I loved him, even though I knew I did. You see, as I said, I'm a bit of a commitment-phobe. But, before coming here, we wanted to define where our relationship was. We decided we were sexually monogamous as boyfriend/girlfriend and actually talked about getting engaged next year."

"Can I tell you a secret?" asked Penny conspiratorially. Jeanie nodded, and Penny continued, "He's the only guy I've ever dated, who I could picture having kids with. I sometimes see little Pennys or Leonards running around."

"You haven't told him that?" said Jeanie.

"No, I haven't," said Penny, "you would have to know Leonard and how he would react, and I'm positive I'm not ready for kids right now. He would get way too excited and read all sorts of things into it."

"You really love him now, don't you?"

Penny grinned, "Yeah, I do. I even loved him when I couldn't say it back to him. I was just too scared to tell him. I'm just glad we were able to get back together. He's gotten more confident, I've gotten more nerdy. For example, I know way too much about Star Trek and Star Wars, not…"

There was a knock on the door.

 **Apartment 4A, 10 AM Tuesday August 7, 2012**

Leonard was on his computer, trying to work on writing up a schedule for getting his lab ready. He would be going in tomorrow for the first time, officially, this year. He would be unpacking the lab, trying to get things set up for the doctoral students. While he wasn't their thesis advisor, he would be helping them with anything to do with lasers. But his mind kept wandering.

He and Penny were supposed to Skype tonight, and it was going to be their first time at trying Skype sex. They had talked about it before Penny left and they had tried to do what they were planning on doing tonight. Basically, they realized, they would both simply masturbate, while watching the other.

Leonard found one problem with it, he kept closing his eyes. The loss of the visual stimulation of a nude Penny, was somewhat offset by the audio simulation of a very vocal Penny, and it kept him going. He was really looking forward to hearing that tonight and he finally gave up on trying to work. He turned his computer off, and turned on his PS3 and started playing a scenario in Red Dead Redemption.

A half hour later, Sheldon and Amy came in. Sheldon had a large box with a freight train on the side. _They must have gone to the train store and Sheldon bought another set_ , thought Leonard. While Sheldon took his train box to his room, Amy sat down on the couch.

"Leonard," said Amy.

Leonard was surprised and didn't answer right away as Amy usually never talked to him.

"Leonard," Amy repeated.

 _OK,_ he thought _, I guess she is talking to me._ He answered "Yes Amy?"

"Bernadette called me," said Amy, "and she will be joining us for dinner tonight, along with Raj. I just thought I would tell you, so you weren't surprised."

"Thank you, Amy," said Leonard, "I appreciate it, but I did know that." He turned back to the game.

Sheldon came out and sat in his spot, next to Amy. "Amy, do you want to play some Counterfactuals?"

"Yes, I believe I would," said Amy.

"Good, because I brought out the categories," said Sheldon showing Amy the cards. "Do you want to play Leonard."

"You know I don't like that game," said Leonard.

"Yes, I know you are incompetent at playing it," said Sheldon. "But I thought I would be polite and ask."

Leonard, without saying a word, got out of the chair, turned off the console, turned off the TV, and headed for his bedroom.

"Well that was rude of him," said Sheldon. "he could have at least answered me. He could have kept playing the video game, while we played, he didn't have to leave. I just don't understand him sometimes."

"Well," said Amy, "he is a bit of downer. He's not fun like the two of us."

"How true, Amy," said Sheldon, "how true."

 **Apt 314, New York, 2:00 PM, Tuesday August 7, 2012**

They looked at each other and Penny jumped up to answer the door. It was a courier, holding an envelope and a clipboard. He gave her the clipboard, and said, "Sign at the bottom." Penny did and he handed the envelope to her.

Jeanie spoke up, "You have one for 601, right?"

He looked at his other envelope, nodded and said, "Yes… wait, how did you know?"

"That's me," said Jeanie, "the name on the envelope, and the signature is for Jeanie Corbette, right?"

The courier looked suspicious, until Jeanie said, "Look, how would I know you had one for 601, for Jeanie Corbette? I'm just trying to save you some time."

Before he could say anything, Penny piped up, "Yeah, it's her. We're both in the same show, I live here, she lives up on the sixth floor."

He still looked unsure, so Jeanie said, "If you absolutely have to see my ID, I suppose I can walk up with you, so you can see that it is my apartment."

"Nah," said the courier, "if you're willing to go up there, I guess it's you."

The courier handed the envelope to Jeanie and told her where to sign. Jeanie took her envelope and went back to the table. Penny said goodbye to the courier and closed the door. She walked back to the table and sat down.

Jeanie said, "You ready to see our second show? Well, first here."

Penny nodded, "This is so exciting for me. My first series script that isn't a pilot. I may have to have this bronzed." They both started laughing as they opened their envelopes.


	21. Chapter 20

**A/N Sorry this is a day late. Getting caught up and continuing. I'm almost finished with the first draft of Chapter 39 right now, so it wasn't a case of writer's block that caused the day delay. Real Life intruded (health issues and getting cast in a play). Should have chapter 40 and maybe 41 finished by the time I publish chapter 21 next week, then I'll go back to publishing when I finished a new first draft.**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Apt 314, New York, 2:00 PM, Tuesday August 7, 2012**

Jeanie had finished the script around three. While reading they had both laughed at the script, and at each other, when they were laughing. Jeanie had finished first and went over to pour herself another cup of coffee. When Penny had finished, she got up and headed toward the coffee pot also. Jeanie said, "Well, what do you think?"

Penny thought for a minute, while she poured her cup, "It's funny, actually funnier than the pilot."

"What about our interaction?"

Penny walked back to the table and sat down, "What about it?"

"You didn't notice the little change in how we talk to each other?"

"Honestly, no," said Penny, "what do you mean, and how did you notice?"

Jeanie chuckled, "I did learn a thing or two at college. One thing they taught us was script analysis. How do the characters interact, how do they talk, how do they react, all of that? In this case, originally, you were pretty sweet and naive. But, there were some changes in the first script, and you had a snarky comment here and there. Now, in this script, you are all sorts of sarcastic and judgmental."

 _I don't see it, how could Jeanie? Maybe I'm not really able to do this._ She thought sadly.

Jeanie saw the reaction in her face and said, "Hey, don't worry about it. You did fine in the pilot, you'll do fine here."

"I was more worried about how you knew that," said Penny. "I don't see it at all, and if I can't see it, how good will I be?"

"Penny," said Jeanie, "you'll get it. I've gotten much better since I've been reading scripts, it will come."

Penny sighed, "I guess, but I feel like I'm in way over my head."

"Don't worry," Said Jeanie, "you'll see. If you don't understand something, just ask me. I'm going to do all I can to help you."

"But, why?," ask Penny. "I'm just a someone who doesn't understand how I got so lucky as to get this. And you, you, you're a st…"

"Penny, listen to me," said Jeanie, "I'll help you because it makes the show better. Remember that. Especially if you go on to have a career. If you make other cast members stronger, you make the show stronger, and if the show is stronger, it has a better chance of staying on. Which means you get to keep getting a paycheck. Now, how about we go get some dinner, and then I'm going to look it over some more, decide on some line readings, and I suggest you do the same. We can talk about the script some more the rest of the week."

Penny smiled, "Sounds good, I also have a call to Leonard to make later. Let me get my purse, and we can go.

 **Apartment 4A, 6:30 PM Tuesday August 7, 2012**

They had just finished eating. There was leftover salad, left over breadsticks, and leftover pizza. Leonard had been telling everyone about Penny, based on talking to her. He was puzzled because Bernadette seemed upset with him, but he couldn't think of anything that would have caused that.

He had asked her about her job, asked about how Howard was doing, even asked about how things were going with Howard's mom, but all he got were short sharp answers. While with everyone else, Bernadette seemed like, well, sweet Bernadette.

He had gotten up and was cleaning up the plates, cups, flatware and the boxes that were scattered around the tables, chairs and floor. Raj and Amy were discussing something about monkey's, and Bernadette got up and started helping him.

After getting the trash thrown away, Leonard washed and Bernadette dried the dishes. While doing the dishes, Leonard noticed that Bernadette was again being short with him.

Finally, he turned to her and said, "What is wrong with you? It's like I've done something to make you mad at me."

"What gives you that idea?" said Bernadette angrily looking at him.

"Bernadette," Leonard said, "you're snapping at me, and not snapping at everyone else. So are you going to tell me what's wrong, or are you just going be crappy toward me for the rest of the night?"

Staring at him, she finally said, "Can we go over to Penny's apartment? I've got something to tell you, something I think you should, no, you need to know. And I don't want to do it in front of the others."

Leonard was taken aback, but he nodded and said, "Come on."

He started walking toward the door, telling the others. "I need to get something for Bernadette, from Penny's and she's going to help me find it, we'll be back in a bit."

Leonard and Bernadette walked over to 4B, and after entering, Leonard closed the door. Bernadette had walked to the window and was looking out. Leonard waited for her to say something but after 20-30 seconds of her not saying anything, he said, "So, what's all this about?"

Bernadette whirled around, "How could you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Let Penny go to New York by herself," said Bernadette. "That is the biggest mistake you've ever made with her."

"What do you mean?" said Leonard sounding confused. "This was her big break, I've supported her trying to become an actress, and this is her chance for a good career. Besides, how could I have stopped her?"

"Oh, Come on," said Bernadette. "What she needed to hear was she shouldn't go. If you had simply said that she wouldn't have gone."

"Wait a minute," said Leonard, "why did she need to hear that? And why am I the one to tell her? I'm not telling her anything like that. She's wanted to be an actress before I even knew her. She moved out here to become an actress. I want her to be happy, and if being an actress makes her happy, then that's what she should do."

"Besides," said Leonard, "why do you think you're in any position to tell me what to do about Penny. What about you and Howard?"

"What about me and Howard?"

"You let Howard go to the Space Station," said Leonard. "You were afraid to let him go, and he was actually scared to go, but you let him, why?"

Bernadette looked away from Leonard, "It was his dream, I couldn't stand in the way of that. I started to, but realized it wasn't fair to stop him."

"And me stopping Penny is different, how?" asked Leonard.

"OK, fine," said Bernadette, "you couldn't stop her, because it's her dream. But, if she was going to go, you should have gone with her."

"Why? What was I supposed to do, quit my job and just follow her around?"

"Don't play dumb with me," said Bernadette.

"I'm not," said Leonard, "what the hell is wrong with her going by herself?

"She wasn't ready."

"What do you mean?" asked Leonard. "They picked her to play the part, I would say the people that picked her know more about whether she is ready than you do."

"She wasn't ready emotionally," said Bernadette.

"That's crazy," said Leonard."She moved out of her boyfriend's apartment to move here, was she ready for that?"

"Not the same thing, Leonard," said Bernadette. "You didn't see her when you were dating Priya. Has she told you about that?"

"She didn't get specific, she just said it got rough for her."

Bernadette looked at Leonard and sighed, "I guess it was only me and Amy knew how rough it was for her. Did she tell you about how she broke down crying when you started dating Priya?"

"No, wait, what?" said Leonard, "When did she break down crying?"

Bernadette realized that he didn't know how bad Penny had been, "It was that night Priya first came over," Penny had left earlier and when Amy was leaving, she went over to see her, and ask her how she was doing. She tried to make it out as if it was a good thing for you, but she broke down crying. She was still upset that weekend, when you went with Priya to Catalina.

"Why would she be upset?"

"Leonard, she still had feelings for you. Amy and I had seen it prior to Priya, but she didn't want to admit it. The whole time you were with Priya, she struggled. She wanted to see you happy, but was upset because it wasn't with her. She also wanted to tell you, but didn't think it would be fair to you or your relationship. She doesn't handle stress very good and the conflicting emotions were stressful to her. To make it through, she started drinking — a lot. There'd be nights where we had to put her to bed."

"I still don't understand."

"Leonard," said Bernadette, "she leaned on you for support. Even if you two weren't dating, you were always right across the hall if she needed you. When you were dating Priya, she still had feelings for you and was upset that you were no longer available. She couldn't depend on you for help anymore and so when she was having problems dealing with things, she didn't know what to do, and started drinking."

"For example, one night, we tried to take her dancing. She said she was fine, and didn't need to get out, but we insisted, trying to get her mind off of you. She finally agreed, but wasn't really into it, saying she was fine being single. Then Amy and I found the snowflake on her nightstand and…"

"Wait a minute," said Leonard, "she had the snowflake on her nightstand?"

"Yep," said Bernadette, "that was pretty sweet of you. Anyway, after that, we went out, but all she did was drink, and talk about you. Guys would ask her to dance and she would blow them off. That was one of the nights we had to put her to bed. One night she passed out when we were playing twister."

"But why?"

"She loved you, but couldn't or didn't know how to say it. But now, you've let her go to New York. You're not going to be there for her, just like you weren't there when you were dating Priya. I bet if she's under pressure and/or stress or if she has any problems, she starts drinking again."

"This is different," said Leonard. "We can call each other, and Skype, and we'll be able to see each other every three weeks. And besides, it's not like we're not together now. So that shouldn't be a problem."

"You don't get it Leonard," said Bernadette. "If things are not going well for her, if she has problems handling it, and you aren't right there, she will probably start drinking again. When she was struggling with the rehearsals here, you were there to help her or talk to her. Now, with her in New York, you won't be there for that kind of thing. A call or Skype isn't the same thing, and even there, the three hour difference could be a barrier."

"Well, there isn't anything I can do now," said Leonard bitterly. "I already feel guilty about how much I miss her and want her back here. But if I tell her that, she may just come back and I can't take a chance that I mess up her career. If I tell her, and she abandons her dream to come back, I don't know if I could handle THAT. So what do I do?"

"I'm not sure," said Bernadette, "unless you are going to tell her she needs to come home, about the only thing you can do is to watch her closely on Skype. Really pay attention during the calls and watch her when she comes back on those weeks she's off. All I can do is tell you what I think. You're going to have to make the decision based on her actions."

Leonard looked downcast, "That would break her heart, and I'm not doing that, just like you and Howard. I want to see her succeed. We did talk about this you know. She was just as stubborn about me not quitting, so if I tell her I'm moving to New York, she'll quit anyway, and I'm not going to risk that. On top of all this, I'll be getting a call from her in about an hour, so I've got to get this off of my mind, so thanks for that," he ended sarcastically.

"Oh, be quiet," said Bernadette, "I'm just trying to help you. If you want to get snarky about it, I won't bother."

"No," said Leonard, "I'm sorry, you're right. I'll watch her and make sure she's doing all right. If you see something let me know."

"I will," said Bernadette. "We have several 'girl's nights' planned, so I'll check on her then.

"So, you good with this?"

"Not really," said Bernadette, "but, I don't see any other way around this."

"I don't either," said Leonard, "so the only choice I have is to let her do her job in New York, watch her for signs of stress, and be there if she calls for me.

"Yeah," said Bernadette, "I guess that is it. Ready to go back?"

"Yeah, let's go."

They left 4B, Leonard locked the door, and they returned to 4A.

 **Apt 601, New York, 10:00 AM, Wednesday, August 8, 2012**

Jeanie took Penny to some of various places around the city where tourists usually went. First, they took a taxi to Battery Park. They walked around in the park, and Jeanie pointed out New Jersey, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. Penny told her that her and Leonard had gone there, and to the Empire State Building, during the upfronts. After an hour there, Jeanie took Penny up Waters Street, and found a pizza place for lunch. As they sat outside, Jeanie pointed out The Brooklyn bridge.

After lunch, she took penny to Wall Street and showed Penny the stock market building, then took her to the 9-11 Memorial. Jeanie was interested in it also, as it had not been open, when she had been working on Broadway. They then caught a cab and stopped at the United Nations building, to look around for about an hour.

After that, they stopped for dinner near their apartment building, and getting to their building, went to their own apartments. Penny worked on some line readings for a couple of hours, then called Leonard, talking to him for over an hour, before they decided they wanted to finish their call in their bedrooms.

 **Apt 314, New York, 9:00 AM, Friday, August 10, 2012**

Penny was sitting at her kitchen table, sipping her coffee, studying her script, and waiting for Jeanie. Jeanie had some errands to run on Thursday, but had promised to take Penny around the theatre district today. Just after nine, Penny heard the knock on her door. She answered it, asked Jeanie to come in and wait for a few seconds while Penny got her purse.

Jeanie told her there were a couple of places she wanted to take Penny today. They walked to Columbus Circle, and then they walked North on Broadway, ending up at the building at 1900 Broadway. Surprising Penny, Jeanie entered the building with Penny and took her to the fifth floor, where the SAG-AFTRA office was. She introduced Penny to several of the people there, also explaining that this is where Penny should come, or call, if there was any union problem with screen work.

After leaving, they caught a cab to Times Square. Penny was thrilled, taking pictures, but Jeanie had an ulterior motive. She took Penny past The Palace theatre, and entered the building to the right, and then got into he elevator. It was going up and when it stopped, Penny was surprised to find she was in the offices of Actor's Equity.

Jeanie had to come here for some paperwork, and she wanted to show Penny where the office was, if she ever got a job in the theatre, and needed to become a member. Jeanie even suggested that she join now, but Penny demurred, saying she didn't think she would ever do theatre. Jeanie explained that as a member of SAG, and having a major role, she was eligible for Equity, but she understood if Penny wanted to wait.

Jeanie filled out her paperwork, turned it in, and then both of them left, Jeanie taking Penny around to the three theatres she had worked in, then several of the others which were well known. Penny was shocked to find the theatres, really didn't look like theatres, they looked pretty much like all the other buildings around them.

Other than name of the theatre in a neon sign, only the numerous show posters, on either side of the doors, indicated a show was running inside. Even most of the marquees were under an overhang, making them difficult to see. She also thought it was strange that most of the Broadway theatres, weren't on Broadway, but on streets off to either side of Broadway.

By this time, it was getting close to five PM, and Jeanie suggested they catch a cab home. Getting to their building, they walked to the Indian restaurant, had dinner, then went home to their own apartments.


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N I got nuthin'**

 **Chapter 21 (3006)**

 **Cal Tech Laser Lab, 9:30 AM Monday, August 13, 2012**

He was going over the list of grad students he would be working with this year, all four would be coming in Wednesday. He enjoyed working with the young students. _It was a shame,_ he thought, _that I don't get to do that more often._ He planned on going over what specifically they would be doing on Wednesday with them, and thought he should make some copies of what he had planned, to pass out to each of them.

He suddenly remembered something he wanted to do. He looked up the number to the florist shop, along with a specific address. He called and placed a specific order, explaining to them how the order had to be delivered at a specific time. After being assured it could be done, he placed his order, chuckling to himself.

 **Studio 44, 9:30 AM Wednesday, August 15, 2012**

Penny and Jeanie were walking to the studio, talking about the previous night when they had again read the script together the previous night, while drinking wine, giggling at some of the jokes. They were each carrying a bag that contained some personal items. They had brought several items each on Monday, and a few more items on Tuesday. These items were used to decorate their dressing rooms. Today's items would add to what they had already brought.

They entered the broadcast center and followed the hallways to the studio. One there, Jeanie had entered her dressing room, while Penny continued walking to the stairs. Her dressing room was on the second floor, so she had to climb up the stairs. _I have to climb stairs at home in California and I have to climb stairs at work in NY,_ d _amn being only a costar,_ she thought with a laugh. She got to her door, and saw the nameplate, "Penelope Jensen".

She smiled, opened the door, and entered. She put her bag on the chair, turned on the lights, then closed the door. Turning around she gasped. There on her makeup counter was a vase of flowers, red roses.

Walking over to the vase, she grabbed the small envelope, opened it and read the card:

" _ **Penny,**_

 _ **To my favorite actress, break a leg.**_

 _ **Leonard.**_ **"**

She felt tears form in her eyes, and she wiped them away. She had to get ready. Taking off her coat, she hung it up, then headed back downstairs.

It was now almost ten AM, and Penny was sitting at the table, waiting for the rest of the actors. On the table, in front of her, was a placard with her name. She had made a stop at craft services and now had fruit and a cup of coffee in front of her. She was waiting nervously, for the table read to begin. Jim, Kelli, and Sam were sitting at the head table, with Tina next to Jim. There were three more tables in a line, perpendicular to the head table. Jeanie and Dave sat across from each other, next to the head table. Penny was next to Jeanie and the spot next to Dave, and across from Penny, was for Brent, but he hadn't arrived yet. Along the rest of the tables were the heads of each department, with the rest of the crew and writers in chairs encircling the tables.

Finally, Brent walked in and went right to his seat. Sitting down, he looked at Penny and smiled. He then reached for a pencil, taking one out of the container in front of him, there were three on each table, he opened his script and then started writing something.

After several more minutes, Jim spoke up. "All right everyone, settle down." He waited until everyone was quiet, "All right," he said with a smile, "welcome to the first table read of the season, for the show's second episode. They will broadcast the slightly edited pilot for our first episode. Let's go over some things. This is basically a read through of the script. I expect the actors have looked at the script, and to use the voice intonations they feel are right. If anyone finds a line funny, feel free to laugh. After all, this is supposed to be a comedy, and we need to find where the laughs are, outside of what the writers found funny."

"For any special things, visuals, special effects, actions with props, all of that, Sam will give us a description of what is going on. Does anyone have any questions? Good, now Sam will go over the setup, and the lead in to where we are starting, then we can start the read. Dave, you got the first line, you ready?" Dave nodded, and Jim said, "OK, Sam, get us started."

 **Cal Tech Laser Lab, 9:00 AM Wednesday August 15, 2012**

Leonard had come in early, he was looking to get out of there before lunch. He unlocked the small office lab, where he had his "desk", then started his coffee machine. The four grad students were coming in at nine, along with several other students, who had help run a limited number of lasers over the summer. They were all going to help him get started on getting the all the labs up and running, so everything would be ready for the first day of classes. The students, other than the four grad students, had been at the school during the summer to operate certain equipment, in the small laser lab.

Starting at 8:45, the students started slowly drifting into the lab. Leonard greeted them, spoke with them briefly and asked them how their summers had been. After they all arrived, he then briefly laid out what he wanted to accomplish during the week. To help them understand what exactly was planned, he passed out the copied sheets, which had all the intended activities for the week.

They went to the main control room for the large lasers, entering it after Leonard unlocked it. They started by sweeping the floors, and then started removing the covers off the control panels used to operate the main laser, cleaning the panels as they went. Then they moved to the control room for the slightly smaller laser, repeating their procedures. They then moved to the small laser lab. There were already two lasers unpacked, and in use, they had been used for scheduled work over the summer. The students unpacked four smaller lasers and placed them on their specific workbenches. They planned to set them up and test them, over the next few days. They went to another smaller lab and unpacked the last two of the smaller lasers, and again put them on their specific workbenches.

Finally, they moved back to the office lab and unpacked the one laser Leonard had planned to keep in his office, putting it on its specific workbench. Leonard then thanked them all, and asked how many pizza's they would need for dinner. They told him $50 to $60 for the Pizza and twenty or so for the beer, so Leonard gave them $100, and told them to grab either a couple of extra six packs, or extra pizza, with the leftover money. They accepted the money, thanked him and they all headed out.

After they left, Leonard sat at his desk, looking over the planned experiments the grad students listed for the fall semester. These doctoral student were really sharp, some of the experiments were quite technical. Leonard was charged with assigning the time each student would use, on each of the lasers. He got a tentative list done, then put it away. He would have to see how the lasers were working before doing the final list. That would be some time next week, as they had to first assemble the lasers, then test them.

Leonard turned his computer off, and put it in his messenger bag. Then he cleared his desk putting, the papers in the top drawer. He walked over to the coffee pot, turned it off, then washed out the carafe. He put the carafe back on the coffee machine, grabbed his bag and walked to the door. He checked the time and was happy to see it was just after one PM, he would get lunch on the way home. He turned the lights off, closed and locked the door, and left for home.

 **Apt 314, New York 9:30 PM Friday August 17, 2012**

Penny poured the last of the wine out of the bottle. This had been her second bottle. She had finished the first in only about an hour, and emptying this one took less than 90 minutes. She was really feeling it now.

After the relaxed read through, and costume fitting on Wednesday, it had been a rough two days of rehearsal for her. The same problems she had during the week of taping the pilot, resurfaced during the first two days of rehearsal.

She was thinking about it and shook her head her thinking already fuzzy. _I was missing my mark when I moved to my camera…wait…I missed my mark for what camera I was supposed to move to.… Huh…wait…I couldn't find my light either, wait, I did find it, it was up on the ceiling… oh, wait, I know, I was missing my mark to be in the light, not in the ceiling._ _Hell,_ _I'm surprised I found my way walking to my dressing room._ She thought sarcastically.

 _Then there were those other things that came up during the run through… was that today? Lucky they didn't yell at me, of course that was this afternoon, so they may be yelling at me tomorrow. Wait, tomorrow is Saturday, they can't yell at me on Saturday, can they?_ _What am I going to do. Leonard, I miss you. You may not know what I'm supposed to be doing, but just you being here would make me feel better._

She looked at her phone and started talking to it, her drunken state much more obvious. "Hmmmmmm, it's 9:30 here, sho it's three hours ahead, hehehehe, head. Wait, three hours that means it's, uh, uh, 12:30 in California. No, wait, it can't be just after noon."

Her alcohol addled brain was trying to figure out, suddenly she remembered, "My phone, I can look up what time it is in Pashadena…Pasashena…wait, Pasadena, that'shit hehehehe, shit." Looking at her phone, she was confused, her phone showing 6:30. "That's not three hours from 12:30," She tilted her head, still looking at her watch. "I'll just call, if he anshers, I can talk to him." Penny brought up Leonard's number and tapped it, waiting for it to ring.

Leonard was driving home from work, he had been late getting out, finishing the laser lab prep. Now he was caught in traffic on California Blvd. He could see the emergency vehicle lights ahead of him, and thought he could turn down Lake Ave to avoid the traffic, but it seems a lot of other drivers had the same idea. He heard his phone ring, but it was in his bag. He hoped whoever it was would leave a message and he'd get to it when he got home.

Penny heard the voicemail prompt, and after the beep said, "Leonard, I'm drunk…two bottles of wine. Remember I told you lasht night how bad yeshterday was? Today was, worshe…I'm going to bed, I call you tomorrow, lest seeeee, tomorrow is Shunday. I'll call you shunday, I love you bye." Penny broke the connection and headed, unsteadily, toward her bedroom.

 **Apt 314/Apt 4A 9:30/6:30 PM Monday August 20, 2012**

"Leonard," said Penny, "it was terrible. I couldn't do anything right."

They had been Skyping for almost 30 minutes, Penny kept talking about how bad things had gone on pre-taping. Leonard was having trouble getting any word in, and he could see she was almost in tears. Finally she stopped long enough for him to say, "Were they yelling at you?"

"No," she said, "They were so nice about it. But, I could tell they were getting frustrated. Missing lines, missing places to stand, missing light spots, I couldn't get anything right, it was terrible."

Leonard felt helpless. He had been able to calm her down on Saturday and Sunday, but she had another bad day today. If he was there, he could just pull her in for a hug, to try and comfort her. As it was, he was reluctant to say anything, as he regularly messed up that part. Hesitating for a few seconds, he finally said, "Have you talked to Jeanie? She seemed willing to help you when we were in New York."

Penny considered that, "I suppose I could. Maybe she can give me some ideas on how to do this. None of my acting classes gave the mechanics, just the acting part, so all of this is new to me. I can do that tomorrow." Penny drained her glass, and poured another glass.

Leonard notice how much she was drinking tonight and remembered the drunken voice mail she had left on Friday. Bernadette's comment about her drinking came to him, and said, "Hey, you seem to be drinking a lot."

"Yeah, so?"

"Just wondering, It seems you're hitting it pretty hard."

"Nah, I drank more when I was in California," said Penny. "Besides, as bad as things are going for me, I need to drink a bit, so just leave it Leonard."

Leonard saw he wasn't going to get anywhere with her, so he tried various ways to try to get her mind off of her acting problems, and hopefully, get her away from the wine. After she didn't respond to his first three attempts, he was running out of ideas, so he said, "Hey, how about we head to our bedrooms? Maybe help you relax, maybe get your mind off of what's…"

"You mean, maybe get each of us off, right?" said Penny with a wolfish grin.

Leonard blushed, which Penny noticed, and she said, "You head to the bedroom, in case Sheldon comes home, I'm going to stay right here on my couch." As Leonard started toward his bedroom, carrying his computer, he watched Penny take off her shirt and bra. He started to hurry.

 **Penny's dressing room 3:50 PM Tuesday August 14, 2012**

Penny's phone alarm went off, she had set her alarm because she needed to be down on the stage at four, to wait for her make up call. She had been studying her script and was afraid she would miss getting to the set on time. She turned off her alarm, grabbed her script, and headed out of her dressing room, and down to the stage.

She walked into the apartment set, and sat on the couch. Jeanie was already there, her script was on the couch and she was writing something in her script. Penny sat down, and said, "Jeanie, can I talk to you after our dinner break? I've got some questions for you."

"Sure," said Jeanie, "there's nothing special we have to do, this run through should be done by five, why don't you come by my dressing room right after the run through? We can get something to eat, and talk."

"Ok, cool," said Penny. She was looking at Jeanie's script, there were all sorts of symbols and marks in the margins of her script. Penny had to know, so she asked, "What do all those marks mean?"

Jeanie looked up at Penny in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"Those marks," said Penny, pointing at the marks on Jeanies script, "what do those mean?"

Jeanie looked shocked, "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I really want to know."

Jeanie shook her head, "You mean, you haven't written in your blocking? Your specific spots? Camera angles, all of that?"

"No," said Penny, "I marked my lines, and my cue lines, but I didn't mark blocking. Should I have been writing it in the book all along?"

"Oh my god, yes," said Jeanie. "Oh sweetie, no wonder you've been struggling with lines, movement, where to stand, all of that. But, I'm pretty impressed you got along as well as you did without having your blocking written in. We'll fix that today, I am going to teach you what all those symbols mean, and how you write them in your script to show your blocking and movement."

"Well, that is actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

Jeanie paused, "Hmmmmm, When one of us is on stage, the other is off, and otherwise, were on together. We may have to go back to what we did at the pilot, me guiding you to your spots, for the run through and taping tonight. So, we won't be able to fix that today."

"How about this, we get the scripts tonight, then we have the table read. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll come down to your place, and I'll teach you what those symbols mean. Then, on Thursday, when you get your blocking, you can write it in. Thursday night you and I will go over the blocking you write down." Jeanie looked at Penny and shook her head, "I still can't believe you don't know these symbols and haven't been writing them in your script."

Penny smiled at Jeanie, "Thank you, but I was never taught this in my acting classes."

"I think you got cheated then," said Jeanie. "This is something everyone in the business should know." Jeanie noticed Penny looking downcast, "Don't worry sweetie, we'll make sure you know the symbols and how to write them in. I'll charge you just only half of the regular price of a lesson."

Penny looked at Jeanie and nodded, "That sounds fair."

"Oh, sweetie," said Jeanie with a chuckle, "I was kidding, I'm not charging you anything."

They could hear a call over the loudspeaker, telling Jeanie they were ready for her in make-up, and the call to tell Penny that she would be needed in about ten minutes. Penny said bye to Jeanie, and went back to studying her script.

A bit more than five minutes later, she felt a presence near her. Looking up she saw a smiling Brent. Before she could say anything, the loudspeaker came on, calling for Penny to come to make-up. She rose, "Sorry Brent, I have to go get my make-up ready." With that Penny headed toward the make-up room.


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N I've been falling behind on my first draft writing, because I've been acting in a play.** **Fortunately, I had quite a few chapters (20) backlogged, so I was able to continue to publish once a week. Just for reference, my first draft of the story is currently in mid October (note that this one starts on August 21) Our show ended on Sunday, (along with finishing painting the house last week), so I'll have more time for writing. I hope to catch up, and then get a bit ahead, so I can publish possibly three times every two weeks. I'm not promising, as I have to get ahead first.**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Laser Lab Office 7:50 AM Tuesday August 21, 2012**

Leonard had come in early to prepare for the testing of the various lasers. He had spent the first part of the morning going over his checklist for each of the lasers he intended to have the students check today. First they were going to check the three smaller lasers in his office. Then move on to the lasers in the small laser lab. Then the control suite to run the tests for the two big lasers.

For the final test, he was going to use the big laser to verify some of his preliminary ideas for particle detection. He had his calculations, all he needed was to run some observations on each particle, and maybe he could figure out how to match his calculations to those observations. He sat back, waiting for his doc students to arrive.

Right at 8:00AM, the four students walked in. He offered them coffee, then passed out a sheet and while doing this he began talking. "Ok, we're going to start at 8:30 AM, the order in which we will be checking the lasers is on the sheet. Now, we'll be doing this in pairs. Roger, Keith, you're team 1 and you'll do the first one. Kevin, Gary, you're team two, and will watch them. After we finish the first laser, you'll switch, with team 2 working, and team 1 watching. After that, each team will alternate, as to who is working."

"I have three lasers in this office, they should take 30 minutes each. All we're doing with those is setting them to low power and checking the target screen for positioning. If they aren't correct, we adjust and test again. Then, we move on to the small laser lab, where we have three more. Those will require a bit more precision, and a bit more power, so I'm thinking it's going to take up to an hour on each one. That takes us to around 1:00 PM, so we'll break for lunch then."

Leonard looked over the rest of the day, and said, "At 2 PM, we'll head over to the main lab control room. the final two will require all of us working on the lasers. The controls for our most powerful lasers are there. Alpha, our most powerful laser, and Beta, at about 70% of the power of Alpha, is our second most powerful. We'll test Beta first. Again, it will be set on very low power, so we can use the position screen to check it, figure another hour."

"Finally, at 3 PM, we'll start working on Alpha. We are actually going to run a complete experiment on Alpha. First low power to get the position right, then we'll increase the power to 50%, to do a final check. Then we'll position the target and run it up to full power, to run the experiment."

"That should take us until five, and we should be finished. I'll get you guys the money for your pizza, or whatever else you want, and your beer, then."

They looked at each other, then one of the guys spoke up, "Dr Hofstadter, you paid for four nights of food and beer so far. We were wondering if you would mind us taking you out for dinner and beers."

Leonard looked surprised, "You sure? I remember how I was scraping by when I was working on my doctorate."

They looked at each other, "Oh, we realize that," Roger said, "but, you've been so kind, so helpful, we just want to take you out, to show our appreciation. We can scrape up enough between us to take you to dinner, at least once."

Leonard was blushing when he smiled at them, "OK, dinner is on all of you tonight. Now lets get to work."

 **Studio 44, 10:30 PM Tuesday August 21, 2012**

The show had finished taping, and the barriers had been put away, the curtains were all up, and the entire stage could be seen from the stands. The stands were emptying out, as the audience left the studio.

Jeanie and Penny were talking when Dave walked up. "Hey, you two, want to stop for a drink? Jim, Kelli, Tina, Brent are all going. Just wanted to ask you." Penny and Jeanie looked at each other, nodded then turned to Dave and both said…"Sure".

"Great," said Dave, "We're going to Jake's Saloon, it's on your way home, the corner of 10th and 57th. We'll be there at 11, see you."

Penny and Jeanie both headed for their dressing rooms to change and about 15 minutes later they were walking out of the studio, then out of the broadcast center for the half block walk to the bar. Entering, they looked for their friends and found them at a table in the back. Jeanie and Penny sat down next to each other, with Tina on the other side of Penny, and Jim asked them what they wanted. They both told him a white wine, and he headed toward the bar. Dave and Brent were the last to arrive, with Kelli getting them their drinks.

Once everyone had their drinks and was seated, Jim raised his glass and said, "Here's to a successful run, may we be on for ten years." There were various "here, here" or "toast" and everyone took a sip. Over the next hour everyone was going back and forth talking about the show, about New York, about their lives, and other small talk.

Jeanie was talking to Dave, and Penny noticed Tina was quiet, not rushing around talking as Penny was used to seeing her. Penny asked the question that was on her mind. "Tina," said Penny, "were Jim and Kelli upset with me? You know, because I didn't know where I was supposed to stand and my missing all those lines?"

Tina took a sip of her beer, then said, "I haven't heard them say anything about it. But, I would be less than honest to not tell you they seemed a bit frustrated by it."

Penny's face fell, and Tina must have seen it. "I wouldn't worry about it Penelope, I've also heard them say they are willing to give you some extra time to get it. They know it's your first series, and they now know you are learning, but they do expect you to work on it, so just make sure you do."

"Oh, I will," said Penny. "I'm getting with Jeanie tomorrow, she's going to show me how to mark my blocking in the script."

Tina looked shocked, "Wait, you haven't been putting you blocking in the script?"

Penny shook her head, "I've been finding out I didn't learn a lot of what I should have learned.

"That's really amazing," said Tina shaking her head, "I'm surprised you've been getting as close as you have been. OK, work with Jeanie, start putting it in your script. You know, if you have a question on blocking, you can come to me. I have everyone's blocking in my script."

"Oh, I didn't know that," said Penny, "I'll remem…"

Penny felt an arm go around her shoulders. Turning, she saw Brent next to her, it was his arm. He looked down at her and said, "Hey, I see you've been struggling with your lines and blocking. How about after we get done with the table read tomorrow, you come over to my place and we can go over some tips I have for you to get through it easier?"

He sounded very reasonable to Penny, but she still felt wary around him. His arm around her contributing to that, because it just felt creepy. Fortunately, she had a built-in excuse, "Sorry Brent, Jeanie is going to work with me tomorrow and through the week, along with at night at my apartment, to help me get it."

Brent pressed ahead, "Well then maybe you can come over some other night, and I can go over and check it with you."

"Maybe," said Penny, "If Jeanie can't help me, maybe I'll talk to you." Brent's arm was removed from her shoulders, and he walked off.

Tina was looking at Penny, "He bothers you, doesn't he?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "how can you tell."

"The expression on your face," said Tina.

Penny nodded, "He reminds me of how a friend of mine used to act. He was really creepy too, thinking he was God's gift to women. He changed, but Brent…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"Yeah, I can see that," said Tina. "I've got to go talk to Kelli for a bit, about tomorrow's schedule, so keep working hard and I'll see you in the morning."

Penny looked around and saw Tina was standing between Jim and Kelli, talking to them, while Jeanie was talking to Dave. She didn't see Brent, but was thankful for that. Suddenly Penny felt lonely and wished Leonard was there to talk to her. After about ten minutes Jim came over to ask her how the taping went for her, and the feeling, of loneliness, left her.

An hour later, both Penny and Jeanie were saying their goodbyes, as they were leaving to go home. Everyone else said goodbye to them and as they headed toward the door, near the front, Penny saw something. She turned and pointed out to Jeanie that Brent and a blond were making out in one of the front corners. Jeanie and Penny both turned to each other and broke out laughing.

It was a short walk home and they said their goodbyes when Penny left the elevator on the third floor. Jeanie reminded Penny they had their table read at ten, and then she would be coming over in the afternoon, to teach Penny how to mark the script for her blocking and drill her on the symbols.

 **Apt 314, 9:30 PM Wednesday August 22, 2012**

Penny was studying the marks Jeanie had given her that afternoon. She had left her a sheet with all the symbols on it, along with what each symbol or letter meant. After the table read, Penny and Jeanie returned to Penny's apartment, and Jeanie started explaining to Penny what letters or symbols to use, what each of them meant, when to use them, and where she should write them down in the script.

It was evening and she was now staring at all those "Xs", arrows, and an "S" with an arrow at the top, one with the arrow at the bottom, two letter abbreviations, and various other symbols and letters, trying to learn make sure she knew what they all meant.

Penny wasn't sure she was ever going to get it. Jeanie had also pushed Penny, and had her write blocking Jeanie had given her on a couple of pages of dialogue Jeanie had brought with her. She didn't make it easy for her, as Jeanie had made her write it down on the pages of dialogue, as Jeanie told her what her blocking was.

And now, after Jeanie had left for the evening, Penny was trying to make sense of that page. It wasn't easy as in trying to write it down quickly, she had written it down sloppily, and parts of it didn't make sense.

Penny sighed, and got up, heading to the kitchen. There, she poured herself her fifth glass of wine, emptying the bottle, and went back to her couch. She sat down and picked up the papers with the symbols, and started to go back to studying, but she was feeling the alcohol and was feeling lonely, and decided to call Leonard.

She placed all of her pages together on the table, and opened her computer, entering Leonard's number. It rang twice before Leonard picked up.

"Hi Penny," he said, "how is everything."

"Hi sweetie," said Penny, "I was just missing you. I didn't talk to you last night, and I've been studying some stuff Jeanie gave me, and I just wanted to talk to you."

"Awwwwwww," said Leonard, "That's sweet." He looked down, "I was missing you too, and was going to call if I didn't hear from you by seven. So, how are things going?"

"Well, you know how bad things were," said Penny. "There was that drunk call and I talked to you the next day. Jeanie showed me some ways to mark my script, so I know where and when to move, which way to face, all of that. So, I don't have to worry about it. Of course, now I'll have to memorize even more stuff, sooooo…"

"I'm sure you can do it."

"I hope so," said Penny. "Jeanie has offered to help me, she told me to just ask." Penny paused for a few seconds, "Leonard, remember when I told you we got along so well at the auditions?"

"Yeah, you said something, about you giggling and making each other laugh."

"OK," said Penny, "we're starting to get along even better. It's like I can talk to her about anything. She likes wine, we go to work together. When I'm feeling down, about being away from you, I can talk to her and she understands. We're getting to be real good friends."

"That's a good thing, right?" asked Leonard. "You're making a new friend in your new job."

"Yes, it is," said Penny, "but, I miss my old friends not seeing them, not talking to them, not being able to see them."

"I'm not sure what to say," said Leonard, "except I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Penny, "Talking to you means a great deal to me. I miss you so much."

"Well, I miss seeing you," said Leonard. "At least we talk almost every day. So I have that."

"And I have that and I'm grateful for it," said Penny, "But, talking sometimes isn't enough. Last night, I was in the middle of a bar, and was feeling lonely. I wanted you there, I wanted to hug you, and I couldn't. It made me feel sad for a second."

"I miss hugging you too, and snuggling on the couch, and kissing, and… I better stop."

"No, you better go to your bedroom," said Penny seriously, "you're making me horny, too. Go."

Learned and Penny both jumped up and headed for their bedrooms.

 **Studio 44, 3 PM, August 23 2012**

Penny was in her dressing room, rubbing her eyes. She had just taken some Tylenol, for the third time today, she still had the headache from her hangover. And today was the first day she had tried to write down her blocking and she had struggled.

The morning had gone well enough. They did a walk-through, with the director giving the actors their blocking. Penny had gotten that, writing down her movements with the symbols Jeanie had showed her. After lunch, they started setting up the cameras, which included which way Penny, and the others, were supposed to look.

In addition, there were changes to the script, and Penny had to make changes to her blocking, and writing it down on the new pages. Writing and re-writing everything down left her with no time to review everything before starting. She had to try and look at it while doing the run through, leading to her missing several of her cues, which caused the director to restart the scenes.

Penny had been getting frustrated, even when she was off set, while they worked on other scenes. She continued to press herself to study, wanting to get it right. But, without enough time to actually review the changes, before getting to the next scene, she was still getting confused about where or when to move. This was in addition to getting more changes before running the scene, which had her looking at the wrong blocking. By the end of the day, she was almost in tears and after her last scene, ran to her dressing room.

She laid on her dressing room couch, waiting for Jeanie to finish her last two scenes. She closed her eyes, trying to think about her blocking, as she wrote it down, but without actually looking at it, she couldn't picture it, and with her headache, she didn't want to get off of the couch, just to look. _I'll see if Jeanie is willing to stop at the store on the way home. I need to pickup some food, and I definitely need some wine, that should help me relax._

Penny heard a knock on her door, and Jeanie saying, "Give me about five minutes, Penny, then we can go." Penny got up from the couch and started putting things away, getting ready to leave.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **A/N It's a bit of a disconnect for me, at times, to be writing ahead (I just finished chapter 42), and then coming back to publish earlier chapters. I'll see a character express something, that is** **directly opposite of what may happen later, so I have to be careful not to re-write and give it away. However, it does allow me to catch a contradiction, or add something to better explain or set up an event that happens later in the story. For example, I was checking chapter 24 and 25 (I check the next couple of** **chapters to check for continuity before publishing) I found a a problem with a time line. I had moved on to August 25th in chapter 24, then went back to August 24th, in chapter 25.** **So I moved that event into chapter 24, and the timeline is now correct. Since I didn't have anything for an author's note, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of how I'm working on this story.**

 **Cal Tech Laser lab, 6 PM, Thursday Aug 23, 2012**

Leonard looked over the proposal, making notes as he did so. This was the second one he had to read through today. His four grad students were required to write up a formal proposal. While school didn't officially start until next week, he suggested they submit their proposals to him, so he could look them over, and make corrections, or suggestions on how to improve them, before turning them in to their advisors.

The four of them had gotten all of the lasers set up and tested. Leonard gave them some small experiments, to get them proficient in setting up and running experiments. The experiments he had set up, were some that had been replicated many times, so their results could be compared to well known results.

Since he had read their proposals, he had also gave them specific experiments, intended to give them hints as to how to set up their own experiments, which would help guide them in writing their proposals. _Although,_ thought Leonard looking at the latest proposal, _it doesn't seem as if it had helped them._

He looked up at the clock, _damn six already. Well, I missed new comic book night last night, and I'll miss dinner tonight. Wait…, damn Raj and Bernadette were coming over tonight. Oh well, no sense going home, Penny's not there anyway._ He sighed _Hell, I'm not even playing any video games either. Maybe I'm missing her more than I know. I could spend some time sitting in her apartment tonight. Maybe no one has noticed, at least no one has said anything to me._

He went back to the proposal, noting on a separate sheet, what laser and at what power the grad student wanted, and what laser and at what power Leonard knew was required. He scanned the remaining pages, hoping to get home soon enough to call Penny.

 **Apt 314 10:00 PM Thursday August 23, 2012**

Penny was looking at her script, when her phone rang, so Penny leaned over grabbing her phone off the end table. Looking at the number she gave a little shriek and accepted the call, saying, "Bernie, I'm so glad you called. How's everything going?"

"Doing good," said Bernadette, "How about yourself?"

"Well, I'm feeling a little tipsy," said Penny. "How's, work?"

"Normal crap," said Bernadette, "I've gotten a couple of new projects, and they must really like me, they gave me my own bathroom, just outside of my office. Why are you…"

"Is Amy there?" asked Penny.

"No, she's still at the apartment with Sheldon. After we ate, I came home. I was going to take Raj home, but Amy said she'd take him. So how's acting going?"

"Have you talked to Howard?"

"Yes, he's having a rough time living in the space station," said Bernadette. "The other astronauts are picking on him. They even went so far as to stick an alien mask outside the window where he sleeps. He said he screamed for almost nine minutes. So, how are…"

"Raj and Sheldon?"

"Ummmmm, they're both good, I'm sure Leonard has told you. But, I want to ask…"

"Have you seen Leonard?"

"Yes, I have, and I want to talk to you about that," said Bernadette.

"Is something wrong?" said Penny sounding concerned.

"I don't know," said Bernadette. "Last week, Raj said he missed playing Halo. They hadn't been playing much, so they set it up and Leonard never showed. Last night, Sheldon told me, he didn't show up at the comic book store. Tonight, he didn't show up for dinner. He's putting in a lot of hours at work."

"Well, it is the beginning of the year and he said something about working with more grad students this year."

"I suppose that could be it," said Bernadette. "But, ahhhh, ummm, there is something else."

"What?"

"Sheldon told me tonight that Leonard spends a lot of time, by himself, in your apartment. He said one night, he went over there and Leonard was sitting in the dark."

Penny became worried. _Leonard never told me he was doing this. Is being separated bothering him that much? What should I do?_ She started thinking about different things, having forgotten about Bernadette.

"Penny?" Said Bernadette.

"Oh, sorry, I was thinking," said Penny. "Have you talked to him Bernie?"

 _At least she sounds concerned_ , thought Bernadette then she said, "No." She paused for a few seconds, thinking about the conversation her and Leonard had had a couple of weeks ago. _Well,I shouldn't tell her about that._ Finally she said, "Well a little, but he didn't mention it, and he didn't sound as if there was a problem. Hmmmm, but that was over two weeks ago."

"I guess I'll have to talk to him," said Penny.

"You should," said Bernadette, "and I want to know how you…"

"So are you planning a recepti…"

"PENNY, STOP IT," yelled Bernadette.

Penny started, "Stop what?"

"You know damn well what," said Bernadette. "Every time I try to ask you how things are going, you avoid it by asking about someone else. Quit doing that and tell me, what the hell is going on?"

Bernadette heard Penny sigh, then say, "Oh Bernie, it's so much more harder than I thought it would be."

"How?"

"I have to know where to go," said Penny, "where to look, what to say, when to go. Jeanie showed me how to mark in the script, but then we get changes to the script and how and when I move changes, and I forget to write it down, or do write it down and I forget what the symbols mean. Along with that, the director keeps telling me what to do, and I don't do it because I don't think it will work, after all, I'm the actor. Like he's a director, what's he know about acting?"

"You wanted this. You said you were so ready to go to New York."

"Yes, I know," sighed Penny. "But, I didn't realize how much work this was going to be. All I've ever seen was the finished show or movie, the talk shows, the red carpets. My acting classes always concentrated on how to act, never on all this other stuff, and all this other stuff seems like it's the important things I was never taught. I feel like an idiot sometimes."

"Only sometimes?"

"What the hell…"

"I'm kidding," said Bernadette with a chuckle, "I'm sure others have gone through it, before you. Are the people making the show mad at you?"

"They say they aren't," said Penny. "They tell me as long as I'm working at it, they'll be patient with me. But, I can tell they're frustrated at times. So, I'm putting pressure on myself, to learn all of this, and that messes me up. But, it seems like I have to learn something new every day, before I have a handle on what I needed to learn two days ago, and when I don't get it, I get mad at myself."

"How are you doing by yourself?"

"What do you mean?"

"For the last four or five years," said Bernadette, "when something didn't go right, you had Leonard there to help you through things, even when you were broken up. I remember you telling me abut the rent, light bill, and food he paid for. How he helped you through breakups, and other emotional times. But, I was there when he was dating Priya, and saw your reaction to that, and how you struggled. So really tell me, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing OK," said Penny, dismissively. "I miss him, of course, but nothing I can't handle. And, you know, this really has nothing to do with the way I acted when Priya was around, we're together now."

"Is that why you're drinking so much?"

"What do you mean?"

"I said," Bernadette said, "is that why you are drinking so much? When Leonard was dating Priya, and you couldn't see him, you were drinking pretty heavily. You said you were tipsy tonight, and Sheldon told me Leonard said you were pretty well smashed the other night. You tell me you're having problem with your work and it doesn't seem like you're doing all that well. So, I'll ask you again, how are you doing?"

"I told you, I'm doing fine," said Penny indignantly.

"And I say, your drinking tells me you aren't," Bernadette snapped back.

"I don't care what you think my drinking tells you," said Penny hotly. "I've only been drunk that one night. And I've been drunker than I am tonight, a bunch of times, with you and…"

"So you've been drinking tonight?"

Penny stopped, then continued sounding absolutely livid, "I SAID I'M FINE, SO GET OFF MY BACK."

"WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU TELL ME THE TRUTH…" said an enraged Bernadette, sounding like Howard's mother. She stopped, took a deep breath, and said softly, "Penny, I'm sorry. I'm just concerned about you, that's all. I'm just worried about how you're doing, especially now that I know you are having trouble. Come on, talk to me."

Penny was still angry, but was cooling down, "I'm sorry too, Bernie. But, really, I'm fine. It was just that one night I was drunk, I only had a few glasses of wine tonight. I also have Jeanie here. We're getting to be good friends. She's also helping me with all my stuff at work."

 _Oh, I didn't know that,_ thought Bernadette, _maybe she'll be fine with Jeanie, as long as she has someone, and is actually willing to talk to her._ She said, "Ok, fine Penny, as long as you have someone. Like I said, I worry about you, there, without all of us to help you through."

"I do appreciate it, Bernadette," said Penny. "And, I promise, if I start to struggle, I'll call and ask you for help. Well, if Leonard isn't helping me. How's that?"

"That sounds good," In the background, Penny could hear that loud gravelly voice, "Bernadette, I need my back loofahed."

She heard Bernadette sigh, "I've got to go Penny, Howard's mother needs me to loofah her back."

"I heard," said Penny, "You're a good daughter-in-law, Bernadette."

"Yeah, you might not think so if you knew what I was thinking."

Penny laughed and said "Goodbye Bernie"

"Bye Penny, please take care of yourself."

"I will," said Penny. They both hung up, and Penny went to prepare for bed, wondering if there was anything to what Bernadette said.

 **Studio 44 1 PM Friday August 24, 2012**

Penny was in what was supposed to represent the hallway to her Agent's office. Her next scene had her coming out of the door, and yelling back into the "office." She had been going over her script. While she only had one line, it was when she said it, and when she closed the door, that were the tricky parts.

The cameras were moving into place and the director, Steven Flemming, Tina, Jim, and Kelli were walking over. As he walked up, he explained the shot he wanted. "Penelope, we're going to get your back, while you open the door. Take a step out, then turn. The camera in the "office" will get your line, then turn and walk out, close the door and the other camera in the hallway will get your reaction, your disappointment — remember to droop your shoulders — and then walking away.

Penny nodded and waited until the cameras were set, the crew was set, and Steven told her, "Go ahead, were going to do a take."

Penny got into place, the director asked if everyone was ready, and receiving positive comments said, "Ok, quiet everyone. Ok, and…action."

Penny walked to the door, opened it, and took a step out. She turned and said, brightly, "I hope I do bette next time, bye." Penny turned and walked out the door, closing it as she walked away.

"Cut," yelled the director. "Penelope, come here."

Penny walked up to Steven and said, "Yes Steve, what do you need?"

"I asked you droop your shoulders after you close the door," said Steven. "Why didn't you do that?"

"I guess I forgot," said Penny. "Let's do it again."

Everyone reset, and the director yelled "Action."

Penny walked to the door, opened it, turned and gave her line, walked out, closed the door. She kind of half shrugged and then continued. She heard the director, "Cut".

"Penelope", said Steven, "I asked for droop your shoulder, all you did was shrug them. Do you need some time to understand what droop means?"

"No, I got it," said Penny.

"OK, then maybe you can actually droop your shoulders, so we can get through this and mover on?" asked Steven, sounding a bit sarcastic.

Penny felt defensive about the comment, but she nodded and the director yelled, "OK, everyone reset."

Everyone went back to their places. After asking everyone if they were ready, the director shouted, "Action."

Penny walked to the door, opened it, turned and said her lines, then let her shoulders droop. She turned, walked out, closed the door, and started to walk away.

"Cut", said the director shaking his head.

"Now what?" said Penny, looking frustrated.

"Penny, you don't let your shoulders droop until after you close the door and what's with the smile while you're walking away?"

"What do you mean?" said Penny.

"Don't you realize what your character is doing in this scene," said Steve.

Penny shook her head.

"You have been told your character lost a part," said Steven. "You try to stay upbeat while talking to your agent. But, when you leave, you're devastated. Which is why your shoulders droop. And, you smile until the door closes, after that you want to cry, so smiling after the door closes isn't really something you should be doing. Now lets try it one more time. Remember, close door, lose the smile, droop the shoulders, reset everyone."

Everyone got back into place, and then ran through the scene. After saying "Cut," the director said, "All right, Penelope, work on the timing of the droop and loss of the smile. We're moving on for now, next scene." He turned and walked away.

An hour later, Penny and Jeanie were getting ready to do a scene in their apartment. They were both sitting on the couch, at "Action," they ran through their lines. They heard "Cut," and Steve came walking up, "Penelope, how are you feeling in this scene?"

"Er…I think I'm supposed to be upset, because I didn't get the part."

"Yes, exactly," said Steven. "So why are you lounging back, like you don't have a care in the world? Remember, I told you yesterday you should be sitting on the edge of the couch. Why aren't you?"

"I didn't feel comfortable with it," said Penny. "I thought laying back like I did looked like I was defeated."

"It doesn't," said Steven, "you looked relaxed. So, here's what were going to do. We don't have time to run this more than once. So try to sit on the edge, shoulders drooping, and looking sad, while we run this one more time."

He turned to walk away, took two steps and turned, "And when we're done today, I want you to come to my office, we need to talk about a few things. Ok, let go, we're reseting."

Everyone got back into position, and after everyone got quiet, Steve called, "Action".

They went through the scene, and when it ended Steve called, "Cut".

He walked up to Penny with a big smile on his face, "Penelope, remember exactly what you did there. Your body, your face, everything was perfect. Let's move on."


	25. Chapter 24

**A/N Nothing really. Trying to get an extra chapter done in first draft to publish three chapters every two weeks. But for now, every Monday at a minimum. BTW, I don't own much of any of these characters, except most of the production crew for the show.**

 **Chapter 24**

 **Studio 44, 6 PM, Friday, August 24th 2012**

Penny walked down the stairs, heading for the directors office. She had told Jeanie to go on home without her, because she didn't know how long it was going to be before she left. Penny felt touched that Jeanie said she would wait for her, that Penny should just come by Jeanie's dressing room and get her when she was done with Steve.

Penny now stood before the director's door. She had a strange urge to knock three times and say the directors name, but she resisted and simply knocked once.

"Come on in," said Steve.

Penny opened the door, walked in and said , "Hi Steve, you said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Hold on a second Penelope, err, do you want to be called Penelope or Penny?"

"When were alone like this," said Penny, "or just talking, Penny is fine. Save Penelope for when we are actually working. I don't want you to get confused and call me Penny if there is someone around who wouldn't know who Penny is."

"Ok," said Steven, "that sounds like a plan. I'll bet you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, yeah," said Penny. "To tell you the truth, I'm nervous and worried."

"Worried about what?"

"That you might get rid of me."

"Why would we do that?" said Steve.

"Let's face it," said Penny, "I'm not doing the greatest job here. I miss my marks, I forget my lines, I'm not following your suggestions. Overall, I'm pretty much useless."

"Well, you're right, all that is true," said Steve with a laugh. He saw the now frightened expression on Penny face and added quickly, "Only kidding. You have a presence when you are on screen and I don't think I've ever met someone who has such command of their facial expressions. Look, Jim and Kelli tell me this is your first series, right?"

"True," said Penny. "I have a commercial and a couple of plays that weren't the greatest, but as for any series work, I have none."

Steve nodded, "I understand that Jeanie is helping you with some of the mechanics of your blocking and where to look."

"Yes, she is," said Penny. "She helped me for the pilot, and now she's explaining how to record what I'm supposed to be doing in my script."

"That's good," said Steve, "and she's a good one to learn from. She's always on her marks…wait, you just now working on writing your blocking in? I am surprised you didn't learn that in any of your acting classes…er, you have taken some acting classes?"

"Yes," said Penny, "but we never covered that. I'm starting to suspect that they may not have been some of the best classes."

Steve chuckled, "Since they obviously didn't teach you production mechanics, you may have something there. Er, I asked you here to talk about some other things they also should have covered."

 _Oh God, what haven't I learned now,_ thought Penny. Out loud, she said wearily, "What am I missing?"

"I don't think you've learned how to be directed," said Steve.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you seem to blow off any direction I give to you," said Steve.

"I'm sorry," said Penny. "I thought as the actor, I was the one who decided how to interpret the words in the script. Oh, no offense, I'm not saying you're wrong, just what I thought."

Steve smiled, "No offense taken. Before I go into this, I want to stress, that you are the actor, it is up to you to interpret your lines in the script. But, I'm supposed to make sure what appears on-screen, is your best performance."

Penny looked puzzled.

"Look, I can see what you are doing, you can't," said Steve. "So, when I give you a suggestion, I'm trying to make the overall scene picture better. It may be that you are supposed react one way to Jeanie in the script. So you react that way, and I don't think it works, so I give you something else to try. See, I'm trying to tweak your performance, trying to make it better. That's my job."

Penny considered that, and she had to agree. Sometimes, she didn't know if her expression was correct, and obviously, Steve could see it. "I guess you're right. I really hadn't thought of it that way."

"You probably don't know that I'm involved in just about everything having to do with the show, do you?"

"No, I thought you just did the blocking, make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be."

"Hehehehehe, no, everything," said Steve. "Look, Penny, when I want to place you somewhere on the set, you have to have a light on you, right?"

Penny nodded.

"So, if I don't know where the lights are going, then I may place you wrong. If I want to use props, where the mics might be placed, all of that I have to know. See, that is the directors job, to see the overall pattern, the overall picture."

"The lighting guy will know lights, the prop person will know props, makeup, hair, sound editing, all of that has an expert running that department. But, I have to know it all, or at least have a pretty good idea of it all, otherwise, I might not be able to make a change."

"Ok," said Penny, "I guess there's a lot I don't know yet about acting."

"I would say it's more you don't have a lot of experience in production, you do well with most things concerned with acting. However," said Steve, "there is one thing I want to talk to you about, that you don't do very well, your body language."

"I don't understand."

"Penny," said Steve, "putting some kind of emotion in your lines isn't all there is to acting. Earlier today, your body language made it look like you were happy, when you were supposed to be sad. Using your body to convey your mood, or how you feel is a very important tool. Didn't you learn that in your acting classes?"

Penny was a bit embarrassed, "Steve, I was struggling as a waitress, barely making enough to live on. If it wasn't for my boyfriend, I'm not sure I would have made it through a couple of months. The acting classes I took, were what I could afford, so I have to think some of them weren't teaching me everything I needed."

She paused, "At one point I was thinking about leaving to go back to Nebraska, I thought I might teach acting. Now, I'm wondering if my classes were taught by someone like me, a failed actor, who didn't really know what they were doing. So, please, if I'm doing something wrong, let me know and I'll work on it."

"Well," said Steve, "the big thing to remember is this, actor's lie to everyone."

"What?" said Penny, sounding puzzled.

"Actors lie," said Steve. "Look, it's important that the public sees you as Jessica Rogers. But, that is not who you are, you are Penelope Jensen. To get people to think of you as Jessica, you have to lie to everyone, to get them to believe you are the character."

"To do that, you have to lie to them. Your words, your vocal tone, your facial expressions, your body language, all of it, are nothing more than lies to get people to believe you are Jessica. You have to rehearse it, practice it over and over, you have to perfect it, so when you're seen on the screen, anyone who sees it, thinks of you as Jessica."

"I never thought of it that way."

"And, see, this is where the director comes in," said Steve. "I can help you with those things you might not be able to see, or know how or what to do, to make it believable. So, please, when I suggest something, give it a try."

"I don't want to look foolish."

"Penny," said Steve, "do you think I would make you look foolish? After all, if I do that, the show is going to look foolish, and if the show looks foolish, there is a good chance we get cancelled. And, I want to keep working, so don't worry about me making you look foolish. Not to mention, if I make things look foolish, how much do you think I would be working?"

Penny considered that, and had to admit, it made sense. "Ok, I'll try to take your suggestions. It may take a while, as it's not something I'm used to doing."

"Just write it in your script," said Steve. "You have your blocking and lines. You have where you are supposed to look…err Jeanie did give that to you, didn't she?"

Penny sighed, "Yes, she did. How am I gonna remember all of this?" Penny held up her hand and said, "Don't answer, that was rhetorical." Penny looked off to the side, and said softly, "Where the hell did that a come from," She turned back to Steve and said, "Steve, I'll do my best, I'll study, I'll do what you tell me, I'll do all of that, but I can't tell you it's going to work right all the time. I'm still learning."

"Penny," said Steve, "you, doing your best, is all we can ask of you. If you struggle, you struggle. I think you can do this, when you do get things, it turns out great, but I will work with you, OK?"

"OK Steve, thanks," said Penny. "I'll try to do what you ask, but if I forget, don't yell at me, but do let me know."

Steve chuckled, "No, I won't. If I can see you're working hard to get this, that's all I can ask, for now. Have a good night."

"I will," said Penny rising. "You have a good night too, see you Monday."

"Goodbye Penny,"

Penny walked out of the office, heading for Jeanie's dressing room. A few seconds after she left, the door to the left of Steve's desk opened and Jim and Kelli came in.

"Well," said Jim, "do you agree with our assessment?"

"I have to say, I do," said Steve. "I know I was getting frustrated, but I really didn't think the poor kid was so raw. I get the feeling she was regularly getting cheated on her classes, there's so much she doesn't know."

"How about her willingness to work?" said Kelli.

"She does have that," said Steve. "And, I love how self-depreciating she is, she's not diva-ish. She thought she new about acting, but when you explain how things really work, she understands she's doing things wrong, and realizes that she may not have been taught everything. Indeed, after explaining it, she now knows she wasn't taught a lot. If you explain the way things work, and what she has to do, she really works at it."

"And her facial expressions and vocal tone?" asked Jim.

"Those are her specialties and she nails them every time," said Steve. "She would be good for voice over work. Animated, commercials, that kind of thing. And of course, her facial expressions are made for comedy. She's learning, and she's trying, that all I can ask."

"So, we keep her?" said Jim.

"Yes, of course," said Steve. "Like I said, she's trying and learning. She's going to get better and better, and I have a feeling she's going to be the breakout star of this show."

Kelli chuckled, "So does Jim. He pushed to get me to accept her for the role, and I now have to say I agree with him and now with you. I think Penny, er Penelope, playing Jess, is going to be the big breakout character and star of this show."

 **Apt 602, 10 PM, Sunday August 26th 2012**

Penny and Jeanie were giggling. They had put two bottles of wine away tonight and were feeling good. They had been working at night, starting on Thursday, even before her talk with Steve. Jeanie was trying to help Penny understand the details behind working on a weekly series.

They had also slid into conversations about themselves, bringing the two of them much closer as friends. Jeanie spent much of Friday and Saturday nights going over the notes in her script, and helped Penny go through her script. Jeanie had given up both nights to help Penny, although they did take time for some personal conversations.

On Saturday, Jeanie explained some more details about production, then they went to an Indian Restaurant, a couple of blocks from their apartment building, for dinner. They both got silly drinking wine, and decided they didn't want to work on anything that night. Penny was still feeling tipsy when she called Leonard Saturday night, suggesting a they move to a "Skype" session.

Sunday afternoon, Jeanie started helping Penny understand how using body language added to her character's moods and emotions.

She had Penny do various positions, while facing a mirror. This way, Penny could see exactly what Jeanie meant, when she told Penny to move or position some specific body part. Penny was happy with the way things were going, but Jeanie warned her, it was a long process as there were a myriad of different positions an actor could use, whether trying to be obvious, or subtle in their appearance.

They had stopped for dinner around six, Jeanie making some stuffed peppers, and they started drinking the wine. They made small talk over dinner and afterward they cut the actual positioning out and just talked for a bit about how to convey moods. Finally, around nine PM, they gave up entirely and just continued talking about their lives.

Penny finally told Jeanie the full story of her and Leonard. How she had felt when they first met; how she started having feelings for him, without telling him; her inability to tell him she loved him, and her distress at breaking up with him. How they had managed to stay friends, her futile attempts to date others and her despair when he started dating Priya. Finally, how he had broken up with Priya, and how they got back together, the only thing she left out was the night with Raj.

Jeanie was enthralled by the story, and told Penny, she had thought Leonard was a pretty nice guy. It was then nearing ten and they started cleaning up, because Jeanie said she needed to get to sleep. Penny helped her clean up, then headed back to her apartment.

She was thinking about everything Jeanie had tried to teach her, everything about production they had talked about and Penny started feeling overwhelmed with all of it. So, she poured another glass of wine, drank that while she thought, then poured another. She finished that one around midnight, and decided to have one more. By then, she was no longer concerned about all the information she had gotten, and she headed off to bed.

 **Apt 314, 8 AM, Monday August 27th 2012**

Her phone alarm went off at eight AM, and she groaned as she rolled over to shut it off, and could feel her mouth was dry. She tried to sit up, but a wave of pain flashed through her head. She kept her eyes closed, until the pain subsided. Finally opening her eyes, she felt a bit light headed, but managed to stand up.

She stumbled out to the kitchen and turned on her coffee maker. She grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and opened the fridge and got a bottle of water. She took a swig of water to lessen the dryness of her mouth, and then popped two of the tablets into her mouth, taking another couple of swigs of the water. She took a last swig of water, put the bottle back in the fridge, and then headed for her shower.

She let the hot water run on her for several minutes, because it felt so good. Finally she got her loofah, washed up, washed her hair and rinsed off. Stepping out she dried herself, and got dressed. She then went to the kitchen pour herself a cup of coffee, and taking it with her, went back and dried her hair.

She got a second cup of coffee, then sat at her table trying to look at her script. She struggled with that until she finished her second cup of coffee, because by that time, she felt at least functional.

At 9:15, there was a knock on her door, and she gathered up her script, pencils, makeup and computer, put them in her bag and opened the door. Jeanie was waiting and they left, heading to the studio.

They started the run through right at ten. They had gotten some changes before the run through, and Penny tried to match them with her previous pages, but they didn't quite match up, and she was struggling again during the first run through. The hangover didn't help her, and after the first two scenes, she ask Jeanie to help her after the run through and Jeanie agreed.

 **Cal Tech, 8 AM, Monday August 27th 2012**

Leonard was sitting at his "desk", really nothing more than one of the experimental workstations he had set up as something to work on, in the small laser lab, sipping on his coffee. He was going over the student records of each of the four grad students he would be working with this year.

This was the first day of school, and he would meet with each of them for an hour today. They would be going over what each of them hoped, experimentally, to accomplish this year, a brief explanation of their experiment and what they were planning to write their thesis on next year. While he wasn't their actual advisor, and he would talk with each students actual advisors over the next week. He was their experimental advisor, and would guide them through their experiments.

He finished up reading the last record and put them in order, for the interviews. He had a half hour to kill before the first student showed up. Since they hadn't talked on Sunday night, he was wondering if he could call Penny, then realized that she usually went in at 10 AM and since it was now 11 AM, her time, there wasn't any sense in calling. He smiled as he thought about how their Skype session on Saturday and was looking forward to their call tonight.


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N Just a reminder that I don't own any of the Big Bang Theory characters, and most of the others are owned by the original author. So, I guess I'm just putting words in between all the characters others own.**

 **Chapter 25**

 **Studio 44, 11:30 AM, Monday, August 27th, 2012**

During the last several scenes of the morning run through, Penny made several more errors and even after the talk with Steve, she could see he was looking frustrated. But, Jeanie took him aside and started talking to him. He nodded several times, and when they came back, a few seconds later, he didn't seem as frustrated. They had to restart the next few scenes several times, as Steve didn't like the "picture" he was seeing, so he simply gave Penny a couple of suggestions, to try out in the afternoon run through.

Penny tried his suggestions and got through the afternoon run through with a minimal amount of problems, then made it through the pre-taped scenes with no problems. Everything was finished with Monday's work by around 6 PM. Jeanie and Penny went to dinner together, then they went back to Penny's apartment, to study the changes they had gotten that day. They got finished about 9 PM, and Jeanie when back to her apartment.

Penny thought about getting a glass of wine, _No, after this morning, I really don't need any. Maybe I should cut back on the drinking, try to find another way of dealing with the problems._ _What I need to do is work on my script._ She made herself a cup of tea and sat at her table studying her script, while she waited for the call from Leonard.

 **Apt 314, 8 AM, Tuesday August 28th 2012**

Unlike the previous morning, Penny woke up clear headed, and actually made breakfast for herself, some eggs, toast and coffee. Afterward, she put the dishes in the dishwasher then went to take her shower, and get dressed.

She was reading her script and drinking coffee, when there was a knock on the door. Penny put her cup in the dishwasher, grabbed her purse, her bag, and headed out the door. Jeanie was there waiting and after Penny locked her door, they started walking to the studio.

At ten, Penny walked down to the stage, and when she got there, Tina handed her quite a few changes to the script for the day's shooting, it even involved reshooting one of the pre-shot scenes. Fortunately for Penny, none of the changed scenes were hers. Since she wasn't needed, she went back to her dressing room, while the others worked on the changes, and then reshot the pre-taped scene.

They did their afternoon run-through, then Penny and the rest of the cast waited for dinner at four PM. At five, the cast started getting their make-up and hair done, prepping for the show. At five-thirty they could hear the audience start to enter and at six, they heard the show from last week start playing. At six-thirty they gathered between the apartments, then walked out as they were introduced to the audience.

The taping of the show went very well for everyone, and afterward, Penny, Jeanie and Dave, made their way to the audience. There were quite a few requests for autographs, which Penny provided. After about five minutes, even thought there were more requests, the three of them headed back to their dressing rooms.

She picked up her bag, with next week's script in it. She had been given the script during the break in taping, but had only quickly looked it over before putting it in her bag. She was hurrying as the cast and producers were heading for Jakes Saloon, like they did the previous week.

Jeanie and Penny entered and found Jim, Kelli and Tami at the same table. Dave was there with his wife, Pam, and they all got their drinks and talked about how the show went. Penny was looking around and saw Brent in an animated conversation with a woman.

When she turned back to everyone at the table, almost everyone was talking, except for Dave's wife, so Penny started talking her and was delighted to find Pam had been impressed with Leonard, when she had talked with him during the upfronts.

After a while, Jeanie had gone to get another couple of glasses of wine. Penny had continued talking when she felt someone sit next to her and an arm go around her waist. She pulled back and found herself looking at Brent.

"Hey Penelope," he said, "I see you're still having trouble , my offer to help is still open. We can head over to my place and I'll work with you."

"No thanks, Brent," said Penny, trying to be polite. "I've been working with Jeanie, I've been working with Steve, I think they both have it covered." She decided to make it clear to him, "Also, I would appreciate you not putting your arm around my waist. I have a boyfriend, and I am not interested in visiting your apartment."

"Well, then, I'll just leave you alone,"

"Outside of work, I would appreciated it if you would," said Penny.

"Fine," said Brent in a huff, then he turned and walked off.

Jeanie came walking up, with two glasses. "What was that about?"

"He asked me to his apartment to help me work through my problems, again."

"Jeez," said Jeanie, "can't he take a hint?"

"Probably not," said Penny. "I'll just keep refusing, but told him not to bother me outside of work."

"I'm just not sure about him," said Jeanie. "Sometimes, he makes me nervous."

"I'll watch out," said Penny. "He reminds me of a friend of mine, who thought he was a player. But, once he got seriously involved with his wife, he's not so bad now."

"OK," said Jeanie, "I'm not saying he's some guy off the street. He has been professional on set."

They stayed for another hour, the actors giving Jim and Kelli some input on the show. Finally, Jeanie said to Penny, "You ready to head home?"

"Yeah, it's time, let's go."

They said their goodbyes, gathered up their things, put on their coats and headed toward the door. Just as they got to the door, Jeanie nudged Penny, pointing to the same corner as last week. Again, there was Brent, making out with a different woman. Penny and Jeanie laughed, shook their heads, then left the bar on their way home.

 **Studio 44, 9:30 AM, Wednesday August 29th 2012**

Penny and Jeanie got to the studio around 9:30 and both went to their own dressing rooms. Penny had read through the whole script the previous night, then while waiting for Jeanie in the morning, started highlighting her lines. This morning, she took the time in her dressing room to complete that. She then took her script and left to go down to the floor early, as she wanted to get a cup of coffee before they did the table read.

After getting her coffee, she went to the table, and sat in the chair with her name placard on the table in front of her chair. She continued reading her script as everyone came in, until Kelli asked if everyone was ready. When everyone indicated they were, Kelli started the table read.

Once the table read was completed, Janet Larkin the head costumer, asked Penny to come to the costume shop, as there were a couple of outfits she wanted Penny to try on. Penny looked for Jeanie and explained she had to try on some costumes, and told Jeanie she should head home. Jeanie reminded Penny she was going to meet some friends and wouldn't be home until late tonight.

Penny nodded and said that was fine and headed toward the costume shop. She tried on three outfits, and Janet pinned two of the costumes she tried on. Janet told her she was done and would see her tomorrow. Penny put her clothes back on and left for her apartment.

On her way home, she picked up a sandwich from Stroko's deli on the corner of their street. When she got home, she started eating her sandwich and chips, and started reviewing her script. She was trying to memorize the lines, and also was trying out different ways of saying a line. Around three, she took a break. She laid down on the couch and turned on the TV. While watching that, she drifted off to sleep.

Thirty minutes later, she woke up, stretched and got up. She went to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea, and went to her table and studied her script some more. Around six, she stopped, poured herself a glass of wine, and while she sipped it, she made her a salad, some bread and a bowl of Chicken Ramen noodles.

After dinner she sat on her couch and flipped on the TV. She was surfing through the channels when she saw Star Trek. _Must be…ah…ah, The Next Generation?_ she thought. _The guy with the bald head is Captain Picard,_ _great, how the hell did I know that?_ Watching the show made her feel incredibly sad, because Leonard wasn't there, so she got up to pour another glass of wine.

She filled the glass rather full and drank it while she watched the show. She was remembering some things about the show, and was slightly enjoying it, so when the next one started, she continued watching. Suddenly, she recognized a young Wil Wheaton. _Hey Wil,_ she thought smugly, _I'm acting now, what do you think about that?_

She took a sip of wine and became sad again as she thought of the girls and how they all got together to drink wine and talk. She realized how much she missed them. How they had gotten her through the time Leonard was with Priya. At that she got up, and poured another glass of wine. _Leonard, I miss him. Just another half hour and he will be calling._

She finished the glass, and decided she had had enough for tonight, as she was just starting to feel a bit tipsy. She took the glass to the sink and, along with the other dishes from dinner and her cup from this morning, washed, dried, and put them away. _Who would have thought I'd be doing dishes and putting them away,_ she chuckled to herself.

After she finished, she got a bottle of water and went back to the couch, to watch some more TV until Leonard called. At 10 PM, her computer buzzed, and Penny accepted the call. The screen came up and Leonard was visible. "Leonard, hi, oh sweetie, it's so good to see you."

"I miss you," said Leonard. "It's so good to see you too. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, right now," said Penny. "Had a good day at work, watched some Star Trek, the one with the bald guy."

Leonard looked surprised, "You watched Next Generation?"

"Yeah, I knew the name, I'm ashamed to say, because it had the bald guy. And later it had Wil Wheaton. Is it bad that I felt kinda smug about now being on TV?"

Leonard dismissed it,"Well, he messed with Sheldon a lot, but I'm kinda jealous about that, and besides they made up. So, you ready to come home next Wednesday?"

"Oh, yes, I am," said Penny. "My flight leaves at 4 AM and I get in at 7:30. You gonna be able to pick me up?"

"I wouldn't miss it," said Leonard. "I'm taking the morning off, but I have to be in for a couple of hours in the afternoon. So, we can get brunch, I can drop you off, and I'll see you late in the afternoon."

"That sounds good," said Penny, "I can get a nap in while you're at work, and be awake when you come home."

"Oh, I can't wait for you to get here."

"I can't wait either," said Penny. "So how is work going?"

"Do you really want to know?" said Leonard. "It will be boring to you."

"No, tell me," said Penny, "just use small words."

Leonard chuckled, "Ok, I will." And, he started explaining to Penny some of the work the four students would be doing.

 **Studio 44, 4:30 PM, Thursday August 30th 2012**

Penny was laying on the couch in her dressing room. She was upset with herself, cursing herself for the way things went during rehearsal today. _Dammit, why can't I get this right?_ Her lines weren't so much of a problem, she could still hold the script. _But I couldn't even walk to somewhere they had just told me to go, and I had written down._

There was a knock on her door, so she got up, walked over and opened it. Jeanie was standing there.

"You ready to go home?"

"I don't know," said Penny, "do you think I can find my way there?" Jeanie looked at her strangely, Penny just shook her head and said, "Yeah, give me a couple of seconds to get everything." She put her script, pencils, markers, and computer in her bag, walked out of the dressing room, and closed and locked the door. Her and Jeanie left the broadcast center, walking home.

Just before getting to their apartment, Penny mentioned she had to stop at the store, so they continued to the store at the end of their block. Penny purchased a few pieces of fruit, a bag of salad, a couple of pork chops, some bread, a couple of packages of Ramen noodles, and four bottles of wine, before heading to the apartment.

The elevator had stopped on the third floor, and as Penny got out, Jeanie said, "You want to come up tonight, watch some television, maybe talk a little?"

"No, thanks, Jeanie," said Penny, sounding down, "I think I'll stay home, make a light dinner, try to study, so I don't look so stupid tomorrow."

"You sure?" said Jeanie, "I can help, and you didn't look stupid."

"No," said Penny shaking her head, "you have your own lines to study, I have to learn to get this on my own, goodnight Jeanie." Penny turned and walked to her apartment. She put her groceries away, poured a glass of wine and put the rest of the wine in the fridge. She looked over her lines for about an hour, then poured another glass of wine, and started her dinner.

She broiled a pork chop, made a salad and toasted some bread, and drank wine as she ate. After dinner, she did her dishes and poured another glass of wine, then started studying again. She realized she had comments about her lines, comments about where she should be walking, and comments the director asked her to use, all of it a bit confusing.

She found that some of the words she had written, weren't very clear as to where she should walk or what she should say. She was getting frustrated and poured another glass of wine. She was feeling tense and she felt it would help her relax and understand it better.

However, after that glass, nothing was making any sense, so she put her script away. She went to the kitchen and put the dishes away, and poured another glass of wine. She took it out to the living area and turned on the TV. She flipped through for a half hour, but couldn't find anything she really wanted to watch, and besides, the TV was looking blurry, so she shut the TV off.

She got up, put her glass in the sink, turned off the lights and made her way to her bedroom. It was only 9:30, but she just wanted to go to bed. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and put up her hair. She then stumbled to her bed and almost fell into it at 9:45. She was soon asleep.

At 10, her computer started buzzing, but Penny was already asleep and didn't hear it. In 4B, Leonard heard his call go to voicemail, and sounding disappointed said, "Hi Penny, you must have gotten to bed earlier than you said you would. I love you. Talk to you tomorrow."

 **Studio 44, 2:30 PM, Thursday August 30th 2012**

They had just finished another run through, and Penny was angry. She still had a headache from her hangover, and she was getting her lines wrong. She kept putting more pressure on herself to get it right but, the more she pushed herself, the more errors she made. At least Steve recognized it was her simply trying too hard, and he kept telling her to relax.

Dave was with her in the next scene, and he came over to talk to her and try to calm her down a bit. He was being encouraging, but also trying to get her from trying so hard. "Relax," he said, "it's harder to remember the lines and your blocking if you keep putting pressure on yourself. You start thinking ahead, which can lead you to confuse which lines and blocking you should be doing. Take a deep breath and try to stay with the next line, use your script.

They started the scene and it took four attempts to get through it, with Dave making the first error, before Penny made some. Finally Steve called for a 10 minute break, and Penny went to her chair and angrily sat down.

Jeanie came over and said, "I'll be out tonight, but how about we go over your script quickly tomorrow morning around 9?"

She just nodded her head and said, "Yeah, we need to, I'll go over it tonight, and hopefully between that and your help, I'll have it."

Jeanie smiled at her, and put her hand on her arm, "You'll get it Penny, I'll make sure."

Penny was thinking, _I won't even have Jeanie tonight, I miss having the girls around. Maybe I'll stop and get another couple of bottles on the way home. God I wish Leonard was here. He would calm me down. I can't believe I missed him last night. Well, I'll call him around eight, no, nine, he'll be home by then._

Penny heard Tina called time, for the break and Penny headed back on the set, hoping to get it right this time.


	27. Chapter 26

**A/N Well, the last two weeks have validated my idea to get quite a few chapters ahead, before publishing. I've been struggling with a chapter, and finally finished it, after two weeks (I usually take 3-5 days to write a chapter. That's not as amazing as it sounds as I have the whole thing outlined). I've published three chapters since I started the troublesome chapter (it's 44, if you must know). It's also about time to do another disclaimer, so I should. But, I'm quite sure that the people associated with TBBT are well aware that I don't own anything they have created and that many of the characters here were created by the other author. Which means, I'm not really sure what I should be disclaiming. Anyway, I'll quit running the keys on my keyboard, and let you all get on with reading.**

 **Chapter 26**

 **Cal Tech, 7 AM, Monday September 3rd 2012**

Leonard was in early to prepare for a Laser run. He was also scheduled to meet with his four grad students today and tomorrow. He was trying to get as much done as possible, so he could spend time with Penny, as she was due home on Wednesday.

He had a meeting to attend on Wednesday afternoon, but he thought he could get everything else finished by coming in early, and staying late. He was also scheduled to talk to Geoff Whatney at eight AM, which seemed fair. As he was in the UK, by the time they finished the call, and Geoff finished getting all the data, he would have to stay late, while Leonard was coming in early.

Leonard set the laser, then fired it. Looking at the computer screen, he could see the bloom on the target. It was a few micrometers left and low. He made the adjustments, and fired it again. This time it was closer, but still a micrometer or so left of the target. Another slight adjustment, another burst of laser light, and the beam was perfectly aligned.

He removed the alignment block, and replaced it with the actual material he was going to use in the run. After securing it, he looked at the clock and saw it was 7:30. He decided he could run down to the cafeteria, pick up a bear claw, a fresh cup of coffee, and still be back in time for Geoff's call. He turned off the lab lights, closed and locked the door, and started walking to the cafeteria.

 **Studio 44, 9:30 AM, Monday September 3rd 2012**

Penny was sitting in her dressing room, drinking coffee and studying her script. Her and Jeanie had arrived early, Jeanie having to have a costume changed. At least this morning, she wasn't hung over, and her notes in her script were fairly neat for a change.

She had struggled during the run throughs on Friday for several reasons. She was hung over, she had a huge headache, and she was a bit foggy early in the morning, from lack of coffee. Not to mention, she was distracted by the fact she had missed her nightly call with Leonard, because she had been too drunk to remember. Combine all of this, and she just wasn't getting it.

Another reason, was the rather sloppy way she had written in her movement and director notes. There were spots where her notes confused her, and so she made errors during the run throughs. Her and Jeanie had spend the weekend going through Penny's script, cleaning up the notes and movement.

Jeanie also gave Penny some more shortcuts to use in describing furniture. She pointed out that most of the furniture in the show's apartment, could be described by one or two letters, and identified by putting a circle around the letters. Jeanie spent Sunday afternoon drilling Penny, by giving her a simulated script, then telling Penny her blocking, and giving her very little time to write it down. After a couple of hours, Penny was doing much better at writing it down fast and neatly.

Upon arriving at the studio, Penny was given five pages of changes, which she was able to replace in her script, transfer her blocking, and director notes, all in about five minutes.

At ten, all the actors met on the stage floor, where the days schedule had been gone over. They did their two run-throughs, Penny actually got through them with no problems. The neater writing, and intensive study of the script over the weekend, had been just what she needed. Even the changes went well for her.

After the run through, she checked the schedule, and found she had no scenes for pre-taping, so she was released for the day. She found Jeanie, who told her she would be spending some time in the afternoon, and some time tonight, shooting on location with Dave, so she told Penny to go ahead and leave.

Penny thanked her, went to her dressing room, packed up her bag and left for her apartment. She was anxious to get home, because she had made plans to pack, so she would be ready to go to JFK. She was going to Jake's after tomorrow night's taping, and had arranged for a car to pick her up at closing time.

 **Studio 44, 10:30 AM, Tuesday September 4th 2012**

Penny was reading her script, eating a bear claw and drinking her coffee. They were working on two scenes she was not in, so she went back to her dressing room to study and wait for them to finish the scenes, so they could start their run throughs. She looked at her luggage, she only had one carryon as she still had clothes in Pasadena. Seeing her luggage, she started thinking of seeing Leonard tomorrow.

Looking at the clock, she thought she would call, and catch him before he left for work. Pulling out her phone, she entered the number. She heard the tones, and after the sixth, thought she had missed him, then a breathless Leonard said, "Hello?"

"Hi Leonard," said Penny excitedly.

"Penny, it's so good to hear you," said Leonard happily. He asked, suddenly sounding guarded, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, just wanted to call you before you left for work," said Penny. "You will be there at 7:30 tomorrow morning, right?"

"Of course," said Leonard, "does a proton have a positive charge?"

"Huh?" said Penny.

"You know," said Leonard, "proton…positive charge…like the elect…never mind… you don't think I would miss that, do you?"

Penny smiled, "No, I wouldn't, but I was looking at my luggage, and thought of you, so I thought I'd call before you left for work."

Leonard chuckled, "I'm already at work. I'm trying to get as much done as I can, so we have as much time together for the rest of the week."

"Oh, OK," said Penny, "I never thought of that…"

Suddenly the loudspeaker blared out, "Penelope, please come to the women's apartment."

"Sorry, sweetie," said Penny, "I have to go. See you in 23 and a half hours."

Leonard laughed, "Yep, see you then. I love you."

"I love you too, Leonard," said Penny, "bye."

"Bye," said Leonard.

They both ended the call, Penny heading to the stage, Leonard back to working on the laser.

 **Studio 44, 11:00, Tuesday September 4th 2012**

Penny had removed her costume, carefully hanging it up. She sat down and pulled a makeup wipe out of the box, wiping off all of the makeup on her face. She then washed her face, and packed up her bag, which she then put in her carryon luggage, closed and locked her dressing room, then headed down the stairs.

She met Jeanie in her dressing room, and they both left the studio for Jake's saloon. They met Kelli and Jim at their usual table, Dave was there as usual, but his wife wasn't with him tonight. Penny ordered a soft drink, and a crispy chicken salad. She didn't want to drink, because of the flight, and she did want something to eat, as it was a non-meal flight.

Her food and drink came, along with Jeanie's drink and they started talking about how they felt things went with the taping. Jim and Kelli were even happier than they were the previous two weeks. Both of them complimented Penny on getting it yesterday and today. They were also asking Penny what her plans were in California.

Penny said she wasn't sure, but she was going to spend a lot of time with Leonard. Kelli reminded her of the two promos she was supposed to tape on Friday at Warner Brothers. Penny smiled and told her it was on her phone and she would be there a half hour early. Jim and Kelli thanked her.

Another round was ordered, and they talked some more of the taping, then Jim mentioned they were just over two weeks before the first episode aired. So, the talk turned to how everyone thought the show would do. Jim and Kelli were both optimistic. Jeanie and Dave thought it had a good chance. Penny, not being in the business very long, declined to give an opinion other than she hoped it would go well.

Then they started talking about what the rest were planning for the week. Dave and his wife were heading to Western North Carolina, where they had a cabin in the mountains. Jeanie was heading to Boston and Jim and Kelli had a meeting tomorrow at CBS, then they were flying to LA also, to pitch another show idea to Warner Brothers. Suddenly, Penny felt someone rubbing her neck and shoulders, and knew immediately who it was.

"Hey, Penelope," said Brent, "That offer of help is still open. You looked kinda rough the end of last week."

"No, Brent," said Penny, "Jim and Kelli just told me I was fine yesterday and today. So, I'll stick with Jeanie."

"Suit yourself," said Brent as he walked off.

Penny turned to Jeanie, "What is his problem?"

"I don't know," said Jeanie, "but next time, tell him to keep his paws off of you. You don't need to take that."

Penny nodded, then heard "Last Call".

Jim got another round and they sat around for a half hour, finishing their talk, then they all got up to leave. The car Penny had arranged for, was to pick her up here at 1:15 AM. It would take about an hour to get to JFK, and check in, which would give her a couple of hours before her flight.

Dave left, but Jim, Kelli and Jeanie waited with Penny until her car arrived. She got hugged by the three of them, told them she would see them in a week, and entered the car.

Forty-five minutes later the car pulled up at Terminal Five. She paid and tipped the driver, then exited the vehicle carrying her bag and her carryon. Entering the terminal she searched for checkin, and not surprisingly for this hour, found one line for the two clerks. She checked in, and then walked down the concourse, looking for security.

Finding it, she took off her shoes, put everything in two tubs, and walked through the detector. She was fine, she grabbed her shoes and put them on, got her carryon, and her bag. It had taken her all of ten minutes to get through security. She had two thoughts, _There's something to be said for traveling at this hour. I'm glad I didn't have to punch the officer like Amy did._

She walked down the concourse and stopped at a Starbucks. She got a latte and a bottle of water, then took off to find her gate. After a short walk, she found it and took a seat near the walkway.

She had gotten a first class seat on Jeanie's recommendation. "After all," said Jeanie, "you're going to be on that plane for six hours, you might as well be comfortable, and they are paying you extra." Penny was planning on sleeping on the flight, her seat would recline, so, for now, she put her earplugs in, and was listening to some music, while playing some Angry Birds, just killing time until it would be time to board. Looking at her watch, it was 2:30, so she had another 90 minutes or so. She smiled thinking it would only be eight more hours before she saw Leonard.

 **Apartment 4A, 11:30 PM Tuesday September 4th 2012**

Leonard was ready for bed. He had finished brushing his teeth, washed his face, and was now turning down his bed. Looking at his clock, he was wondering if Penny was at the airport now. He couldn't help himself, so he got his phone, and dialed Penny's number.

Penny was surprised by the sound of the call overriding her music. She looked at the screen and was even more surprised to find it was Leonard calling her. She accepted the call and said, "Hello Leonard, is everything all right?"

"Hi Penny," said Leonard, "yes everything is fine, why do you ask?"

"I just didn't expect a call from you, I sent all the information a couple days ago and we talked about it yesterday."

"I know," said Leonard, "I just wanted to see if you were at the airport, before I went to bed."

"Yep," said Penny, "I'm here, just waiting. We don't start boarding for another hour or so. But, I came right from our stop at Jake's Saloon after the taping."

"What's Jake's Saloon?"

"Not important," said Penny, "I'll tell you about it when I get out there."

"Come on," said Leonard, "we have time, what is it?"

"It's just a place the cast and producers stop for a drink after the taping," said Penny. "Anyway, I came to the airport from there so I have some time to kill. So, I'm listening to music, and playing Angry Birds."

"Oh, OK," said Leonard, "I'll let you go, so I can get to sleep. Just checking on you is all, have a good flight, and I'll see you in the morning. I love you."

"I love you, too," said Penny. "I'm so excited to get home. I can't wait to see you, goodbye, Leonard."

"Goodbye, Penny," said Leonard. "Remember, don't eat anything were going out for brunch when you get here."

"I won't, see you later."

They both disconnected, with Penny going back to her game, and Leonard setting his alarm, and getting into bed.

 **Apartment 4A, 5:30 AM, Wednesday September 5th 2012**

Leonard woke up and turned off his alarm, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom for his morning rituals. He got a shower and afterward got dressed and then went to the kitchen, where he poured coffee into his travel cup. He took a sip and checked the time. _Just before six, I've got about 15 minutes._ He walked to his bedroom, to get his wallet then back to the kitchen, grabbed his coffee cup and put the top on, walked to the door, and grabbing his keys, left to go to the airport.

It was going to be about a forty-five minute drive at this time of the morning. He wanted to have enough time to park and be at the security entrance of Terminal five, in time to be waiting for Penny to come out. With that thought, he was smiling while leaving the building.

 **Flight 23, 6:15 AM Wednesday September 5th 2012**

Penny's alarm went off, and she quickly turned it off. She yawned and stretched. _I'm going to have to remember to thank Jeanie,_ thought Penny, _I feel so much better than if I had to have slept sitting up._ She signaled a stewardess and after a quick request, she brought Penny a cup of coffee and a warm wash cloth.

Penny ran the cloth over her face, feeling the moisture and she then applied her face and hand lotion. She applied minimal makeup, then set back and enjoyed her coffee. She was able to get another cup before starting their descent into LA. They were close enough to the ground now, that she recognized some of the landmarks of the cities to the East of LA. Then she saw the buildings of downtown LA, the Hollywood sign and the western suburbs.

They were on final approach and the plane was soon on the ground. It got to the terminal, and stopped. Penny collected her bag and her carryon. She also enjoyed being at the front of the plane and she was one of the first passengers off. She walked up the jetway. Leaving the jetway, she looks for the signs to guide her to the security checkpoint. She walked down the concourse, ignoring most everything and finally arrived at and walked through the security checkpoint.

She was looking for Leonard, and hadn't yet seen him, when she heard "Penny". She turned to the sound, looked and yelled, "Leonard!" They both ran to each other, and on meeting just hugged each other, hanging on. After a minute they broke, kissed, then went back to hugging. Finally, Leonard pulled back and said, "Come on, let's go home."


	28. Chapter 27

**A/N This is an early heads up. I'll do another chapter next Monday (Chpater 28), but then there may be a two week wait for Chapter 29. Chapter 29 may not be published until the 14th of January. The reason being, I'll be gone for a week, to California, to see the taping of the The Big Bang Theory, on January 8th. My wife is traveling with me and we have quite a bit of other things we'll be doing, so I don't think I'll have the time to put up a chapter on the 7th. If it works out, then fine. But I'd rather tell you it may not be published, and be able to publish, than for you to think there is going to be a new chapter, and there isn't.**

 **Chapter 27**

 **2311 Los Robles, 8:30 AM, Wednesday, September 5th 2012**

Leonard was surprised that he found a space and was able to park in front of the apartment building, although, thinking about it some more, it wasn't all that surprising considering the day and time. They both got out, with Leonard grabbing her bag. They were walking up the stairs when Penny quipped, "Ya know, my apartment in New York has a working elevator."

Leonard said, "I don't know what you're complaining about, I'm the one that is carrying your bag up the stairs, not you."

Penny chuckled as they kept climbing and as they got to the third floor, they were surprised to hear Amy, from above, say, "Sheldon, you closed the window, I saw you do it. There is no reason to check it again. You checked the window, and you checked the stove three times and I don't even know why you checked the stove, you didn't even use it this morning. We're 45 minutes late, lets go."

Penny and Leonard walked up the final flight, and Leonard said, "Hi Amy, hi Sheldon."

They both turned and Amy yelled, "Bestie," and ran to Penny giving her a hug before Penny could react. Sheldon was trying to look bored, but Leonard could tell he was excited.

"Hello, Penny," said Sheldon, "I hope you had a pleasant flight."

"Didn't you even miss me?" said Penny breaking the hug with Amy.

"I suppose there were times." said Sheldon, "But, at least I didn't have to run out to the store because you used up our milk. Nor, have I had to use my noise cancelling headsets."

"I missed you too, Sheldon," said Penny as she engulfed him with a hug. Sheldon hesitated and looked uncomfortable, but he too was hugging Penny.

"What are you two doing here?" asked Leonard. "You were supposed to be at work at eight."

"Honestly," said Amy, "I don't know. First he was late getting dressed, and you know he's never late. Then he kept checking the stove, and then…" Amy stopped, looking like she was thinking, "Sheldon, you were stalling. You wanted to be here when Penny got in."

"I don't know what you are talking about Amy," said Sheldon. "I was just concerned about the stove and the window. Why would I want to see Penny come home?"

Leonard grinned, "Sure, Sheldon. I think Amy's right."

"Awwwwwwww, moonpie," said Penny, "you missed me." She hugged him tighter.

Sheldon tried to extricate himself from the hug, but Penny was holding on. "Penny, you can let me go now. Penny, I have to get to work. Penny, let go, and only my meemaw gets to call me moonpie."

Penny relented and let go, but said, "OK, moonpie."

Sheldon made a face then started down the stairs, "Come on Amy, before someone else grabs me and keeps me from leaving."

Amy said, "Penny, see you tonight?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "everyone is coming over tonight. It's good to see you Amy."

Amy grinned at Leonard and Penny and said, "It's good to have you home", before turning and following Sheldon down the stairs.

Leonard and Penny put her luggage in 4B and walked back down to Leonard's car. He drove to Marston's, their favorite restaurant for brunch, and found a parking space in front of the restaurant. They ordered their usual brunch, except they skipped the mimosas, and spent most of the time waiting for their food, just looking and smiling at each other. There was also some small talk, while they held hands. Their food came and they ate slowly. Penny was yawning a bit, and it wasn't until about ten that they finished. Leonard paid the bill and then they headed back to the apartment.

They were holding hands and kissing while walking up the stairs. When they got to the fourth floor landing, their kissing got very intense and they started undressing each other. Penny opened her door and pulled Leonard in and slammed it. In the middle of their kissing, Penny said, "I thought…you…had…to go…back…to work."

Leonard stopped kissing her, his shirt and her top were already on the floor, when he said, "Not for two hours," and went back to kissing her. They continued kissing while the hurried to the bedroom, taking their pants off on the way.

 **2311 Los Robles, 5:00 PM, Wednesday, September 5th 2012**

Sheldon and Amy were walking up the stairs. Leonard was still in his meeting and Amy had brought Sheldon home. They had just gotten to the third floor landing when 3B opened and Mrs Gunderson walked out. Seeing Sheldon, she said, "Hello," then paused for a second. "Sheldon," she said, "was all that noise, and the coming from your apartment today?"

Sheldon just shook his head, "No, Mrs Gunderson, Penny has come back for a week and the noise was probably from 4B, as Leonard is staying over there now, when she is here."

"Are we going to have to listen to her shouting, "Yeehaw while playing cowboy for the entire week?"

"I don't know," said Sheldon, "she just got back this morning, and besides, I have my noise canceling headsets, thank you for your concern, goodbye." Sheldon turned and started for the stairs going up to the fourth floor. Amy said goodbye to Mrs Gunderson, who looked puzzled and chased after him.

At the door to apartment 4A, Amy said, "Sheldon, what is she talking about?"

"Amy, I'm not going to get into it," said Sheldon, with a shudder. "I suggest you ask Penny."

 **Apartment 4A, 6:30 PM, Wednesday, September 5th 2012**

The whole group was in 4A, Howard, Bernadette and Raj had brought the food, and put it on the island. They had taken turns going to the island and getting their food and drinks, and everyone was now sitting in their normal places.

Bernadette had asked Penny how her flight had gone. After Penny had talked about her flight and the brunch her and Leonard had had, Amy said, "Penny, why was there a lot of noise coming from your apartment today? Were you playing cowboy, and why were you yelling yeehaw?"

Penny nearly did a spit take and had to get control before she said, "Where did you hear that and why are you asking me?"

"The woman downstairs asked Sheldon about it," said Amy. "And, when I asked him about it, he said to ask you."

Penny was turning red and started sputtering, as she really didn't know how to answer. Bernadette was grinning, but saved her when she said, "Penny, would you like to have a girls night on Friday?"

Penny simply nodded and Bernadette continued, "Amy, we'll talk about it at girl's night, OK?"

"OK," said Amy, "I think I can wait that long."

"I have an announcement," said Sheldon.

"What is it?" asked Leonard."

"I am interviewing assistants, to help me," said Sheldon. "For what," said Howard.

"He probably want's a flunky," said Raj, "I have my own office now, so he can't tell me what to do."

"That's not it at all," said Sheldon. "My mother sent me all my notebooks, where I did all my work when I was young. The university has agreed there might be something worthwhile in there, so I will be able to get a grad student to look though my notebooks."

"I thought it was against university policy to torture grad students," said Howard.

"How is going through my journals torture?"

"Oh, going through your journals isn't the torture," said Howard, "the torture comes from having to talk to you, and worse, work for you."

Sheldon just made a disgusted face.

"Actually, Penny, is Friday good for you? Do you and Leonard have plans?" asked Bernadette.

"Friday would be good," said Penny. "You and Amy don't have to work Saturday. All I have are some promos I have to tape at Warner Brothers on Friday morning and early afternoon. Leonard and I are going out Saturday, so Friday seems best."

"OK, Friday it is," said Bernadette. "Now, tell us about New York."

Penny started talking about the last three weeks, her work, and her blossoming friendship with Jeanie.

 **Apartment 4A, 9:30 PM, Wednesday, September 5th 2012**

Howard, Bernadette and Raj had just left and Amy was getting ready to leave. Penny and Leonard said goodbye to her and went back to putting away all the dishes. Amy said goodbye to Sheldon and left. Penny went to the living room and started putting the chairs back in their places, while Leonard finished the dishes.

When Leonard finished, he walked out to the living room, where Penny was talking to Sheldon. "All right, buddy," said Leonard. "We're heading across the hall, goodnight."

They had just opened the door, when Sheldon spoke up, "Leonard, Penny, please do me a favor and try not to get so loud tonight, I need my sleep."

Penny was just shaking her head as they walked out the door to 4B.

 **Apartment 4A, 7:30 AM, Thursday, September 6th 2012**

Leonard knocked on the door of 4A and waited. Sheldon opened the door, looking at Leonard scornfully. He walked out, closed and locked the door, and said, "The noise cancelling headsets didn't work. I lost 53 minutes of sleep last night." As they started down the stairs, he added, "I even tried earplugs with the headsets and it didn't work. Can you not participate in coitus tonight?"

"Sorry Sheldon," said Leonard, "you're probably going to hear it for the next five nights"

"Hmmmph, I wonder if Amy will let me sleep on her couch?"

"You might ask her," said Leonard with a smile, "she might offer you her bed."

"Do you think so?" said Sheldon looking thoughtful, "I don't think I will fit on her couch, but she will. Perhaps I can use her bed and she can use the couch. Do you think she would be agreeable to me using her bed"

"I'm sure she would," chuckled Leonard, not saying anything about how Amy would want to be in her bed also.

 **2311 Los Robles, 5:30 PM, Thursday, September 6th 2012**

Leonard was walking up the stairs. He had asked Amy to take Sheldon home as he and Penny were going out for dinner, and then possible see a movie. He stopped on the second floor landing as he heard someone coming down the stairs.

Mrs Gunderson was walking down the stairs. She stopped and looked at Leonard. "Still playing cowboy, eh Leonard?"

Leonard didn't say anything, just looked embarrassed and then looked down.

"Or," said Mrs Gunderson, "should I ask if Penny is still playing cowgirl?

Leonard didn't say anything, just looked embarrassed.

Yeehaw, right?" She winked at him.

"Yes, Mrs Gunderson," he muttered, and stated up the stairs.

He opened the door to 4B, and walked in. He saw Penny on the couch, talking on her phone.

"Yes, Jeanie," said Penny, "See if you can explain it to them… Yes, they can contact Jim and Kelli also…Sure, OK, I'll see you Tuesday…Late afternoon or early evening… Yes, thank you. Bye now, see you Tuesday."

"How was your day?" asked Leonard. "Why are you talking to Jeanie?"

"I was talking to Jeanie," said Penny, "because I talked to my agent today."

"What about?"

Penny thought for a minute, trying to figure out how to explain this to Leonard, "My agent has a problem, she doesn't know anything about what is going on in New York. She is pretty good in LA, for someone starting out, but I'm not in LA most of the time, and I'm being told I have a higher profile now. Remember when we were in New York and we went to that party with William Morris?"

Leonard nodded his head.

"Well, Jeanie is repped by them and so are Kelli and Jim. I might be better off getting them to represent me."

"What if, after the show, you come back out here?"

"That's the nice part," said Penny, "William Morris has offices all over the world. If I was part of them, it wouldn't matter if I was here, in New York, or anywhere. They could find jobs for me, or would be involved with many other people who might need an actress or even some modeling or voice over work."

"But, I don't want to abandon Barb. I mean she took me in, when no one else would. She gets her 10% of all of this series, so if I do leave her, she would still get that. Jeanie said I could specify that she would get 1 or 2 percent of anything for the next few years, and then it would revert back to William Morris. But, I would have to wait to see if William Morris would be willing to give up that one or two percent, and for how long."

"Jeanie is going to talk to her agent at William Morris," said Penny, "and explain to them my situation. Maybe have them talk to Kelli and Jim, since they rep those two. After I get back, Jeanie will set up a meeting with her rep, and I'll see what kind of offer I can get and if or how we could work Barb in."

"So, I guess you just have to wait to see what happens, for now."

"Yep," said Penny, "so, where are we going for dinner?"

"That Italian place, Luciano's, on California," said Leonard. "I want to go there, because after we eat we can…"

"Leonard, I don't want to stay out too late," said Penny. "I have to do some promos tomorrow at Warner Brothers."

"I was thinking about a movie," said Leonard. "It should get done around nine, so it won't be too late."

"OK, give me a second to get my purse, and on the way I can find a movie."

"Hey, what if I want to find one."

"Well, then," said Penny, "I'll drive and you can look."

"Yeah, no," stammered Leonard. "I think I'd rather be driving and letting you find a movie."

"My thought's exactly," said Penny.

Leonard said, "Find us a good one."

Ten minutes later they were on their way. It took only fifteen minutes to get to the restaurant. They both had penne, with a white wine sauce, both meals came with a salad and bread. Penny also had two glasses of wine, with Leonard having none, because he was driving. They skipped desert so they could get to the movie on time. Penny said she found one, but hadn't said which one.

She directed Leonard to head south on Fair Oaks, and five minutes later they went by the South Pasadena Rialto. Leonard looked for a place to park, and found one about a half a block away. As they walked up to the theater, Leonard could see the name of the movie, "Hit and Run".

"What is this about?"

"It's a romantic comedy," said Penny.

Leonard rolled his eyes, "And it has Jennifer Aniston finding the love of her live, right?"

"No, Leonard," said Penny. "It has Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Dax Shepard and Kristin Chenoweth."

"I don't know who those people are," said Leonard, "but, if you want to see it, let's go."

"I think Kristen Bell was in Heros," said Penny, "so, you may recognize her."

Leonard paid for their tickets and they entered the theater, got some popcorn and drinks and went into the theatre to watch the movie. Fortunately, the movie got out at 9 PM, and they were home by 9:30. They knew it was early, but Leonard had to get up to be in by 8 AM, to talk with one of the grad students. Penny also had to be at Warner Brothers by 10:00 to tape the promos, so they both decided to head to bed.

They did their usual preparations and after finishing, they both got into the bed. Both knew they weren't going to go right to sleep, so they snuggled up. Leonard chuckled and Penny asked, "What?"

"You know," said Leonard, "both Sheldon and Mrs Gunderson were complaining about the noise last night."

"Well," said Penny, "how about we really give the something to really complain about?"

Leonard laughed, "You read my mind," as he pulled her in and started kissing her.


	29. Chapter 28

**A/N Just a reminder that there may not be a chapter released next week on Sunday night/Monday morning, depending on your location. I'll be in California for a taping and visiting quite a few other places. Something I missed last week, a belated Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate that. Happy Holidays to everyone else, and my best wishes to everyone for a wonderful 2019. Oh yeah, there's a stray word or two in this chapter, both uttered by Penny.**

 **Chapter 28**

 **Apartment 4B, 7:15 AM, Friday, September 7th 2012**

Penny had kissed Leonard just before he left. She looked at the clock, and had another half hour to get ready, before she had to leave for the studio. Just before leaving she filled her travel cup with coffee and headed down the stairs.

It took her about a half an hour to get to Warner Brothers. She wasn't going to a sound stage today, but to the offices on Riverside Drive. She pulled into the parking garage and stopped at the guard. He checked her against his list, he explained where she needed to go, then waved her through. She found a place to park and walked to the elevator, taking it to the seventh floor.

While in the elevator, she mused on how much had changed in six months. She had been trying to get into the studio as an actor and now, she just had to announce who she was, her name was on the list and she was just waved through. She also knew, if she wasn't on the list, and she needed to be here, like today, she could have the guard call Kelli or Jim, and they would get her in.

She announced herself to the receptionist at 8:20, ten minutes early, and a few minutes later, a woman walked up to her. "Hi Penelope, it's so nice to meet you. My name is Gail Meador, I'm going to be your liaison for the show here in LA." Gail handled Penny a card, "This is my card, it has my phone, fax and email on it. Anything you need concerning the show, while you're here in LA, just call me. And if something comes up, while you're out here, I'll give you a call, so please let me know when you're going to be here. Just drop me an email, whenever you're coming back."

Penny nodded, then said, "So, what am I doing today?"

"You're going to do a promo or two, against a green screen. Our effects people will add the apartment from your series, so it will look like you're there. Jeanie will record hers in New York, we'll put them together, and it will look like both of you were there to film it."

"It should be rather simple for you today. All you basically have to do, is to stand in place, look to your left, and read off the cue cards we'll have for you. These are only 30 second spots, so it shouldn't take long."

Penny looked worried, and Gail asked, "Something wrong?"

"I've never read off of cue cards before," said Penny. "I may not get it very well."

"Don't worry," said Gail, "We'll run you through it several times, then record, so you'll be fine. I've seen the rough cuts of your first three shows. You're pretty funny."

"Where did you see those?"

"They're floating around here, on screeners" said Gail. "Were getting ready to send them out, so the critics can look it over and be ready to write a review. The first show is on next week."

Gail led her into what looked like a small studio, it wasn't much bigger than her living room in New York. "The production people will be in shortly, they'll give you everything you need. Break a leg."

Gail left, leaving Penny along in the studio. _I wonder what a screener is? From what Gail said, I guess its several shows people can watch ahead of time. But, what's a rough cut? I guess people have seen me on the show. I wonder what they thought? I wonder if I can get one of those._

Three people walked in, and the one leading the rest said, "Penelope, you ready to get started?"

Penny nodded and one of the people took her to costuming, they would start after she got back.

 **Apartment 4B, 2:30 PM, Friday, September 7th 2012**

Penny got home and kicked off her shoes, dropped her purse on the couch, and headed for her bed. She was going out with Bernadette and Amy tonight, she wanted to get a nap.

While she laid there, she was thinking about how her day had gone. She had gotten done with the promos around 11 AM, and she stayed and talked to the director and Gail for a half hour or so.

They both wanted to speak to her about her first three episodes. Penny was curious, and asked what Gail had meant by a Screener.

Gail explained that, in this case, they had taken the rough cut of each episode, and put it on a DVD and sent it out to major industry news outlets, so they could see the shows. To which Penny asked what a "rough cut" was. Gail reminded Penny about pre-shoots, which were then shown at the taping. The versions shown, weren't the final versions, those were rough cuts.

That made sense to Penny and she realized the first version of the show was a rough cut. Both the director and Gail were impressed by what they had seen of her on the rough cuts. Penny said thanks, but didn't think she deserved the praise. Gail and the director laughed and said, yes she did deserve praise.

Someone involved with Jim and Kelli's production company walked up and asked Penny if she minded going to lunch with her. Gail and the director said bye to Penny, and walked off. Penny agreed, thinking they would be going to the commissary on the lot, but she was taken to the cafeteria in this building.

There, the woman, her name was Teresa, asked her about her life, how she got started, where she learned to be so funny. Penny was flattered, but it felt as if Teresa was trying to get to know Penny. Teresa finally admitted she was the press liaison for Jim and Kelli, and was just trying to get some information for her production company bio, so Penny tried to be pleasant and helpful. After an hour, she said goodbye to Teresa, and headed home.

After another ten minutes, Penny finally drifted off to sleep

 **Apartment 4A, 7:00 PM, Friday, September 7th 2012**

The whole group was in 4A, sitting in their usual places for dinner. Most of the talk was directed at Penny, asking her various questions, that had come up since Penny had told them about New York, her work, and her show.

Penny had tried to answer everything, but she had kept away from her more difficult struggles. This earned a couple of glances from Leonard, but the rest of the group seemed to accept it. They were cleaning up after dinner when Bernadette asked where she wanted to go.

Penny thought about it for a bit and said, "You remember that place we took Sheldon to? Not the place where Amy and Sheldon danced, but before that."

Bernadette looked puzzled, but Amy said, "The place where I kissed you?"

All the guys turned to face the women. Penny noticed that, turned to them and said, "Long, story, don't worry about it." Turning back to Amy and Bernadette, she said, "Yeah, that's the place. We can do some dancing there." The women all agreed, and continued cleaning.

Leonard said, "Why don't you all get going, we'll finish cleaning up, then we're going to play some Halo." The he added, somewhat sadly, "We don't do much of that anymore."

"Awwwwwww," said Penny, "My poor gamer nerd. At least I won't be here to kill everyone."

Howard spoke up, "Leonard we were supposed to play a couple of weeks ago, and you didn't show up."

Leonard look resigned and simply continued cleaning up, with Penny walking over to give him a kiss and say "Goodbye." Bernadette did the same with Howard, and Amy looked at Sheldon, who simply shook his head. With that the woman left, leaving the guys in 4A.

 **Club 54, Pasadena, 9:00 PM, Friday, September 7th 2012**

They had just come off the dance floor, and were a bit breathless. Penny tried to pour another glass of wine, but the bottle was empty. She said, "Be right back," and headed to the bar, coming back in less than a minute with another bottle.

"Who needs another glass?" asked Penny.

"My second drink is still full," said Bernadette.

"I still have half of my first glass," said Amy.

Penny shook her head and said, "What's the matter with you two?" as poured another glass. "We took a cab, so we don't need to watch what we drink."

Bernadette looked at Penny, "I guess I've gotten away from drinking all that much."

Amy chimed in, "Without you, I guess we just don't drink as much."

"Well, I'm still drinking," said Penny, who then took a large drink.

Amy and Bernadette exchanged concerned looks, which Penny noticed, "What? You think there's something wrong with me drinking?"

"Penny, why are you drinking so much?" asked Bernadette.

"I'm not drinking all that much," said Penny. "I've been drinking more in New York."

"You told me on the phone that you weren't drinking all that much in New York, so which is it?" said Bernadette.

Penny was caught out, "Er, not a lot all at once, but pretty regular," said Penny.

"We're just worried about you," said Bernadette, "with how much you've been drinking."

Penny was starting to get angry, "I will drink when and …"

Penny felt an arm go around her waist, and before she could turn, she felt someone kissing her neck. She spun around, she was already angry, and wasn't happy finding herself looking at one of her old boyfriends. "Mike, what the hell are you doing?"

"Just trying to be playful," said Mike, "I remembered that you liked your neck kissed."

"Yeah, and I have a boyfriend," said Penny angrily.

"OK, OK," said Mike, "I was looking before and I didn't see a ring, so…"

"Just get the hell away from me," said Penny, still sounding angry.

"Backing up with his hands up, facing toward Penny, he said, "Jeez, I was just trying to…"

"I don't care what you were trying," yelled Penny, "just go." With that Mike turned and walked off.

"What was all that about?" asked Amy.

Penny poured another glass, and took another large drink. "I used to date him, back before I knew you Amy. You were at The Cheesecake Factory Bernadette, but we didn't know each other very well, I think you had just started and you were always running to school, when you weren't working. I broke up with him because he wrote about a bunch of times we made out, or had sex."

"Where?" asked Bernadette.

"In his blog, online," said Penny. "It was all over the internet. Guys in prison were reading it." She took another healthy swig, then refilled her glass.

"Leonard tried to calm me down and I thought I would give Mike another chance. So, I went over to Mike's apartment and he was already in the middle of sex with another woman. He was in bed with her less than an hour after he left my apartment, I've always thought he had been cheating on me with her, that's why he was with her so fast."

"Leonard told me later he was trying to get me to see Mike was bad for me," said Penny, "but I took it as he was encouraging me to get back together with him. When I saw Mike in bed with the other woman, I came back and yelled at Leonard. He still came over to try to make me feel better, and he ended up asking me out. It was our first official date."

Both Amy and Bernadette said "Awwwwww."

Penny smiled, "Yeah, Leonard is special. But, I'm not putting up, anymore, with guys acting like they can fuck me right here in the middle of the dance floor."

Amy and Bernadette were shocked, they hadn't hear Penny use that kind of language before.

"Er, Penny," said Bernadette, "You OK?"

"Yeah," sighed Penny, "I'm fine. Sorry, but those kind of guys make me mad now, now that I have Leonard." She downed another half of a glass of wine.

Amy leaned over and whispered to Bernadette, "Maybe we should take her home." Out loud she said, "It's getting late, why don't we head on home."

"What," said Penny, "don't you want to stay longer? It's only 10:30 and none of us have to get up early."

"Well," said Bernadette, "how about we stay until 11:15?"

"OK, lets dance some more," said Penny. She downed the other half of her glass, and headed to the dance floor. Amy and Bernadette followed her.

 **Cab #1114, Pasadena, 12:45 AM, Saturday, September 7th 2012**

"Leonard ish, sho good to me," said Penny leaning on Amy's shoulder, in the back seat of the cab. "I've got to tell him that…that…ahhhh, what wassh that guys name, the one that tried to eat my neck?"

"I don't remember Penny," Bernadette lied. "It doesn't matter anyway, you shut him down."

"But, I elled, no IyelledatLeonard, about kishing Alish... no Alish, is that it? Told him not to be kishing other women.

"Alish?" asked Amy. "Er, who's Alice?"

Bernadette answered, "She was some woman who Leonard met at the comic book store, when he was dating Priya, just before they broke up. I didn't hear the whole story but I guess she was hitting on Leonard in the comic book store, but I didn't know he kissed her."

"Yeah, kished her, I told him not to do it, but he diditanyway. So, if shomeone kishes me, I should tell him, so he can yellathim, hehehe, no yell atme."

They pulled up to the apartment building, Bernadette paid for the cab, while Amy tried to help Penny out of the cab. It took both of them to get her out, as she was having trouble standing. Trying to help a woman who couldn't walk had both Amy and Bernadette struggling to get her up the stairs. They finally got to 4B and knocked on the door.

Leonard answered, and had to chuckle seeing Penny. "Hi, sshweeetie, I'm dunk, no I's drunk, no I'm drunk. I kished a guy, no wait, a guy kished me, but I shut down…"

"Of course you did," said Leonard.

"I dided shot him down," slurred Penny, "shuda punched him, oh, oh, oh, I shuda kicked him in the nuts, really fuck him up."

Leonard rolled his eyes, "Let's get you into the bedroom." He took her off of Amy and Bernadettes hands and half helped, half carried her to the bedroom. He laid her on the bed, on her back and threw a part of the bedspread over her. She spoke up, "Leonard, why ish the room shpinning." Then, he walked out to the door and asked, "What the hell happened tonight?"

Bernadette spoke up, "Leonard, some guy named Mike, someone she said she dated, came up to her, put his arm around her, and kissed and nibbled on her neck. She shut him down, hard and fast, but she was worried about it. About telling you, because she said she yelled at you to not to be kissing other women. Something about a woman named Alice. I don't know the whole story, but I know you weren't with Penny at that time. I'm telling you because she was upset, and worried, although she didn't do anything."

"Thanks Bernadette," said Leonard, "thank you both for getting her home. I won't yell at her. She shut him down, it's not her fault. You two don't seem to be in as bad of shape as she is."

"Leonard," said Bernadette, "she was drinking hard tonight. Taking half a glass gulps of wine at a time. We tried to get her to leave around 10:30. She said no, so we tried to get her to leave at 11:30, but she had bought another bottle of wine and wanted to finish that, so here we are at one in the morning. I told you she was drinking more. You should say something."

Leonard nodded, "We'll see. Mean time, again thank you both, and I hope you had a good night, bye."

Amy and Bernadette said goodbye, and Leonard closed the door. He shut off the lights, and went to the bedroom. Penny was by now passed out on the bed. He undressed her, down to her panties, then struggled to get her under the sheet and bedspread. After finally getting her properly in bed, he went to the bathroom.

He got two aspirins, and a cup of water. He put both the aspirin and water on her night stand. Hoping she would see them, if she woke up. He then went out to the kitchen and got her bucket, which he put on the floor, next to her side of the bed. He then stripped down to his boxers, brushed his teeth, washed his face and climbed into the bed next to her. He rolled over, kissed her check and said, "Goodnight Penny, I love you." He laid on his side and put his arm over her side, and soon drifted off to sleep.


	30. Chapter 29

**A/N As you know, I'm in LA, and will be attending a taping on Tuesday. We had plans for Saturday night, but it was raining, so we stayed in, and I completed the correction to this chapter. Then started working on it's final form. I made some changes so I had to wait until tonight to upload it. So, because of the rain on Saturday, you get a chapter, although I said I didn't think I'd be publishing. Be aware, there is some sexual references in this chapter. Finally, when I wrote "Chew Toy", I found a small restaurant that Leonard and Penny went to for brunch. I've since used that restaurant several other times, including this chapter. Well, we had brunch at Marston's on Sunday. So, a place I found to put into a story, I have now actually visited.**

 **Chapter 29**

 **Malibu Beach, 3:30 PM, Saturday, September 8th 2012**

Penny and Leonard were lounging on the beach. Leonard had made plans to come here, as he knew Penny enjoyed the beach. Penny had struggled to get up on Saturday morning, and really didn't want to go anywhere, her hangover really bothering her. But, Leonard had made plans and she didn't want to disappoint him, so she went. She was now happy he had basically dragged her out to the beach.

Early on, Penny was trying to recover from the previous night, wearing her sunglasses, to cut the sun enough to be able to see. Leonard was under the umbrella, and had SPF 50 sunblock on. They had gotten here early enough, around 9:30 or so, and spent a couple of hours lounging in the beach chairs, sipping on ice tea. Penny had taken a nap, waking around 11:30, allowing her and Leonard to go to the beach cafe, for some lunch, before heading back out to their spot on the beach.

They now had spent almost five hours at the beach and Leonard suggested they start packing up, so they could get home, take a shower and get ready to go out for dinner. Penny looked at him leeringly and suggesting she was sure there was something they could do prior to their shower. Leonard leered back and asked if he got three guesses and the first two didn't count. Penny giggled and suggested he didn't even need the first guess. He immediately jumped up, and hurriedly started getting everything together, with Penny helping him.

They had managed to get not only their lovemaking in, they also were able to get a half hour nap, before getting ready to go out for dinner. Penny had a craving for steak, so they found a steakhouse, and had a nice leisurely dinner, getting home around 9:30. They watched a movie, and since Leonard had planned such a nice day, she let him pick the movie. They went to bed soon after the movie ended as Leonard said they would have a busy day on Sunday. However, they did manage to get another round of sex in before falling asleep.

On Sunday morning, they got up and dressed, with Leonard telling Penny to wear her jeans, and boots. They went to Marston's for Brunch and after that, Leonard drove Penny to the Simi valley, to a riding school, where he had planned a day of riding.

Of course, being Leonard, he had called around, to make sure the place was willing, and able, to accommodate an adult who had never ridden and was scared to ride. Penny requested and got one of the more spirited horses, while the school found Leonard an old gentle mare. Leonard was led around the training ring a couple of times, to make sure he had the basics, then their guide led them out for a group ride along the trail, with four other riders.

Penny spent some of the time getting the horse to gallop with her guiding it. She would have her horse sprint ahead of the group, and then slowly ride back, or wait for the others to catch up. Most of the time, she would ride next to Leonard and try to get him to try different riding techniques, or suggest something that would make it easier for him, but most of the time, he was too worried to try anything.

By the time they got back from the trail two hours later, Leonard was exhausted. He was trying not to sit on his saddle as his butt was sore, his arms, shoulders and thighs were aching, and due to his not sitting, his calves were cramping. Leonard was determined not to ruin the ride for Penny, and because of that, hadn't said anything about the problems he was having.

Penny was enjoying herself, smiling and laughing with the trail guide, and trying to help Leonard. When they finally arrived at the area in front of the stable, Penny quickly dropped off the horse, and was waiting for Leonard to get off of his horse, so they could walk their horses toward the stable, together.

Between his cramping calves and the pain in his arms, Leonard was struggling to get down. He had managed to get his right leg on the ground, but his right calf cramped up and he fell to the ground. Penny, uttered a cry and ran over to where Leonard was laying on the ground, holding his right calf.

"Leonard," said Penny, kneeling next to him, "are you OK?"

He just said, "Cramp, just give me a minute."

Penny stood up, waiting for Leonard. Finally, he tried to get up, but he was struggling. Penny put her arm around his waist, helping him to stand. He took the reins and waited for Penny to get her horse. Although Leonard was hurting, he tried to hide it as they lead their horses toward the stable. Handing the horse off to the groom, Penny took Leonard's arm as they headed for their car.

Leonard cramped up again, trying to get into the car, so Penny drove home, and then helped Leonard up the stairs. Penny took pity on Leonard and told him she would order pizza for the night, so they wouldn't have to use the stairs to go out. They both got a shower together and afterward, Penny had Leonard lay on the bed, where she started massaging his legs, with Leonard groaning in pain.

Leonard had decided that sex was off the table for the night, but Penny had other ideas. She had him lay back on the bed, started kissing him. As he laid back on the bed, Penny could feel him responding, so she began kissing him, then moved to his neck, then down to his chest, and his stomach.

Leonard realized where it was going and tried to say something, but Penny had reached her destination and all he could do was gasp, then groan in pleasure, as he gave in to the inevitable. Afterward, they cleaned up, then went back out to watch some TV, before getting to bed early, to be ready for Monday.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 9:00 AM Monday, September 10th 2012**

Leonard was walking gingerly around the equipment and from room to room. He was still very sore from the horseback riding of the previous day, but he needed to get some alignments done, before letting the grad students start working with them.

Penny had her meeting with her agent and while cordial, it was, for a while, a bit strained. Barb was upset that Penny was looking to dump her, just as her career was getting started. Penny pointed out that she would get her 10% for this show, for however long she was on it. But, Penny also pointed out that Barb was unable to get anything done outside of LA, especially as Penny was in New York.

They talked it over and Barb agreed that as Penny was in New York, she would be better off if she had an agent that was plugged into the available roles in New York. Penny told her she planned to discuss giving Barb a small percentage of anything she earned over the next few years, the number of years also negotiable, Penny thinking that five or so would do it. They continued talking and by the time Penny left, they were on good terms again. In fact Barb told Penny she would ask about agents in New York and pass along those Barb felt were good ones.

After the meeting, Penny drove to Caltech, as she planned to have lunch with Leonard. It was their last chance to go out alone together until Penny returned in two weeks, as the gang was coming by tonight, to have dinner.

 **Apartment 4A, 8:30 PM Monday, September 10th 2012**

The whole group was there for dinner, and as she was going back to New York the next day, a sort of mini goodbye party for Penny. They had all finished eating and cleaning up and the guys were sitting in the living room, while the women were gathered around the kitchen island.

While Penny poured some wine Bernadette asked, "So, what will you be doing this week?"

"There's the show," said Penny, "but, if I'm not at work, I'll be trying to figure out how to get the mechanical part of acting."

"What do you mean by the mechanical part?" asked Amy.

Penny explained, "That's the part where I walk, move, sit, stand, which way I look, all of that. It's what I've been struggling with. The producers tell me the acting part, how I say my lines, my facial expressions are fine, although the director tells me I need work on my body language."

Bernadette said, "So, how do you get that?"

"You ask for help and just keep working at it," said Penny. "You remember Jeanie, from the taping?" Amy and Bernadette nodded. "She's been showing me how to write my blocking, which is my movement, into my script. The producer showed me how to highlight my lines. Jeanie is also showing me how to use my body to convey emotion."

Bernadette said, "It sound's like Jeanie has taken you under her wing."

"She has, kinda," said Penny with a smile. "She's also lived in New York before, and she's been showing me around the city, explaining things I need to know about living there."

"She sound's so nice," said Bernadette.

"Oh, she is," exclaimed Penny. "She's been so nice and so helpful to me. And she's so well known, and I'm a nobody, and with all my problems, she is still is helping me. To be honest, if it wasn't for her, I'm not sure I'd still be there. They would have gotten rid of me. When we first got there, she told me, as the only two women, we would probably become good friends, and she's holding her end up."

"She sounds pretty impressive," said Bernadette.

"It sounds as if she is becoming your best friend," said Amy, with a touch of sadness.

Penny looked at Amy and said gently, "No, Amy, you're still my bestie."

Amy perked up.

"How's this," said Penny, "I'm sure, at some point, she will be in LA at the same time as me. When that happens, I'll arrange a lunch or dinner with all of us, so you can meet her." Bernadette was excited about this, Amy less so.

Penny said, "Enough about me, how's Howard doing?"

"I'm not sure," said Bernadette, "he's been acting kinda weird the last few times I talked to him. He was supposed to be coming home in a week, but they delayed it for three days, and he's really freaking out."

While the women were talking about New York, Jeanie, and Howard, Sheldon was talking about his search for an assistant. "It's impossible," he said. "The current graduate students don't have what it takes."

"What would it take," asked Leonard, "a desire to be a slave?"

"Leonard," said Sheldon, "I don't require a slave, just someone who will do my bidding. You do my bidding, and you're not a slave."

"Sometimes if feels that way," said Leonard under his breath.

Sheldon continued, "But, they should know something about the theoretical side of physics. I have two more coming in tomorrow, but it's so bad, that I've even scheduled an experimentalist for tomorrow afternoon."

"You could always look for an engineer," said Raj.

"Oh heavens no," said Sheldon, "it's bad enough that I may have to hire experimentalist, I think I'd rather have one of Amy's research monkey's, than an engineer. It's just the applicants I've already interviewed are not aware of some of my more obscure research. How are they supposed to look through my material, if they aren't aware of my thinking?"

"Oh," said Leonard, "I'm aware of your thinking, and I still don't want to look through your material. Speaking of which, have you looked at my project yet?"

Sheldon gave Leonard a condescending look, "My search for an assistant is much more important."

"Of course it is," said Leonard sarcastically. He turned, "You ready to go Penny, you have to finish packing, and we need to get to bed since we have to get up early."

Penny turned to Leonard and said, "Yeah, I guess we should be getting ready."

"Oh, you won't be getting ready," said Sheldon, "you want to get more coitus in."

Everyone ignored Sheldon and started getting ready to leave. When they were ready, Bernadette and Raj said their goodbyes to Penny and then they left. Leonard and Penny said goodbye to Amy, and reminded her she needed to take Sheldon to work the next day. Penny gave Sheldon a hug and said goodbye to him, and then Leonard and Penny walked across the hall to 4B.

Leonard and Penny finished packing and set her luggage near the door, then they prepared for bed. Of course one reason they wanted to leave was a desire, as Sheldon said, for more coitus. Thirty minutes after getting into bed, Sheldon was again reaching for his noise cancelling headsets, although he was aware they didn't really work.

 **Apartment 4B, 5:00 AM, Tuesday September 11th 2012**

The alarm went off, and Leonard and Penny got out of bed, Leonard turning the coffee maker on, before they took a shower together. After the shower, they each poured a cup of coffee, sitting at the table for a few minutes talking about how much they would miss each other. The got dressed, and with Leonard finishing first, he poured two travel mugs of coffee, finishing just as Penny came out. Penny carried the mugs while Leonard picked up Penny's suitcase and they left the apartment.

It was an hour's drive to the airport, and they were mostly silent on the drive. The traffic was light and they got to the airport at 6:45. Leonard had arranged to go into work at 9:30 PM, so he parked his car and went into the terminal with Penny.

After Penny checked in, they found a Starbucks and ordered a ham and Swiss breakfast sandwich, with no Swiss for Leonard, and coffee. They took these to a table near the security area for terminal five. There, they sat eating their sandwich.

Leonard seemed preoccupied, giving short, non-committal answers to Penny's comments, finally Penny said, "What's wrong Leonard?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that," said Penny, "you don't give short answers to anything, and that's all you've done since we sat down."

Leonard looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then sighed and said, "Ok, fine, I'm worried about your drinking. You missed a call or two, because you were drunk. You, were tipsy, or more than tipsy during a couple of calls. And you had to be helped up the stairs and I had to put you into bed on Saturday. I'm not telling you what to do, I'm simply telling you my concerns. I'll also add, Amy and Bernadette were worried too."

Penny fought the rising defensive feeling welling up. She was thinking, _Leonard wouldn't say anything, unless he was really worried. Am I drinking too much? Maybe I should pay more attention._ Out loud she said, "You might be right."

Leonard was shocked, and he looked it.

"Close you mouth sweetie," said Penny. "I can't deny I've been drinking a bit more. I promise, I'll pay more attention to how much I drink."

"Well, that went easier than I thought," said Leonard.

"Yeah," said Penny, "I know I can be defensive about it, but you're right. And, like I said, I'll pay more attention to it." She ended with a smile.

Security was starting to fill up and Penny thought she should get through security before it got too full. They said goodbye to each other, hugged and kissed. While it was still emotional for them, it wasn't as bad as their goodbye five weeks before. They broke the hug, and Penny said, lightly, "Remember, no kissing women at the comic book store."

Leonard smiled, "And, no kissing your costar, off stage."

Penny shook her head, "Dave's married, and I want nothing to do with Brent."

"I love you Penny."

"I love you Leonard."

They both smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss and Penny started walking toward security.

She made it through security, found a Starbucks and got another cup of coffee. She found her gate, put her earbuds in and turned on her music. While listening she thought, _I'll get in around six, and be at the apartment at seven. Jeanie is getting my script, so I'll have the rest of the evening to run through it, I guess I should sleep on the plane._ She pulled out her iPad and started playing Angry Birds.

After Leonard left Penny at the airport, he drove back to Caltech, arriving at 9:15. He went to his office and found several messages, letting him know two lasers had malfunctioned this morning.

 _Great, the morning I was late everything decides to break._ He went to each of the lasers trying to figure out what was wrong. He found the problem on the first one, rather quickly. He gave the students the instruction to fix it.

Moving onto the second broken laser, he started troubleshooting with several of the usually simple fixes, but nothing was working. It was obvious the fix for this one wasn't going to be as easy or as fast. He started doing the only thing left to him, he started removing individual circuit cards, testing each of them.

 **Caltech, Noon Tuesday September 11th 2012**

Leonard was walking along the hall towards Sheldon's office, to get him for lunch. He was still frustrated, with no fix on the second laser and he had tested nearly half the circuit boards on it. At least, with half the circuit boards tested, he hoped he was closer to the solution.

While he walked to Sheldon's office, he was still running though which of the circuit boards could be possibly be the problem, hoping to isolate the damaged board more quickly. He still didn't have an answer when he arrived at Sheldon's office. Uncharacteristically, the door was closed, but he opened the door and entered.

Sheldon was talking to a slim woman, who had dark, slightly red hair. Leonard started backing out and said, "Sorry Sheldon, I didn't know you were meeting with someone."

"Oh," said Sheldon, "This isn't a meeting."

"Well, then, can you introduce us?" Asked Leonard.

Sheldon looked at woman, then at Leonard, "I don't do that, I have people who do that now." Sheldon looked at the woman and said, "Well, go ahead."

The woman turned to Leonard, extended her hand, smiled and said, "Hello, I'm Sheldon's new assistant, my name is Alex Jensen."


	31. Chapter 30

**A/N OK, I'm back from California, and I caught some sort of cold (fever, chest congestion, achy, etc) so I took an extra day to get this up. I may have to take a week off publishing in the weeks ahead. Between life, trip prep, and the trip, I haven't written in two weeks, and I'm eating into my written buffer. But, we'll see how it goes the next few weeks. If I can stay ahead of where I'm at now, I'll keep publishing every week. On another note, those who have read this and "Chew Toy" will recognize Martson's, a place where Penny and Leonard like to to to have brunch. Well, it's a real place, and on my trip to see a taping last week, I had brunch there. Kinda cool to actual eat at a place I've used in my stories.**

 **Chapter 30**

 **Studio 44, 9:30 AM Wednesday September 11th 2012**

Penny was in her dressing room, looking over her script. She had spent several hours last night going over it, after getting back from California, but wanted to take a quick look again before the table read. She tried to take a drink from her travel mug, but it was empty, so she thought she would head on down and grab another cup, before the table read started.

Penny was at the craft services table with her coffee, when Kelli came up behind her. "Penelope," Kelli said, as Penny continued looking over the fruit. "Penelope, said Kelli again. There was still no answer, but Penny turned and was able to stop before bumping into Kelli. "Oops," said Penny, "sorry Kelli."

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" Said Kelli.

"No, did you?"

"I called Penelope twice and…Oh yeah, you didn't hear me because I was calling Penelope, not Penny."

Penny looked sheepish, "Yeah, that could be it. I still sometimes don't answer to that."

"Well, you better start."

"Why?"

"A couple of reporters for two trade papers are coming in today," said Kelly. "They will be here around noon, to do interviews with you."

"What, why?" said Penny sounding shocked.

"They got their screeners," Kelli explained. "After viewing the first three episodes, they want to talk to you."

"I was going to ask you about that," said Penny. "I heard the term screener when I went in to do the promos at Warner Brothers. Someone said they had been sent out and there were some floating around out there. One person even said they had seen them and they thought I was funny. I hadn't even heard about it, hell, I didn't even know what they were, until I asked. Why didn't I get one?

"Penny," said Kelli, "they really aren't for the actors. When a critic writes a column about television, for a paper, magazine, or website, they will review various shows. They can't just watch the show when it's on and write the review in time to have it up within a half hour or so online, or have it ready for the paper's printing company that night. It takes time to write the review or article, then edit it, then do the final copy. So what the industry does, is to send out DVDs or Blue Ray copies of shows."

"In our case, we sent out the first three episodes. This gives the reporters some time to write their articles, not just on the first episode, but on several so they can get an idea of where we may go with it. You remember the changes we made after the pilot? So, when the first show is on next week, the reviewers can write a review, not just on the show, but on the series, and have it ready for online that night, or in a paper the next day."

"I will tell you," said Kelli, "that there is a lot of interest in your character, and you as an actor. Not just those two people coming in today, but we've gotten quite a few requests. That person in LA was right. You aren't just funny to us, the people whose job it is to write about television are finding you funny. There is a buzz about you, it's still low key, but it's there. And it's not just the press, there are some in the industry that are paying attention to you right now. That's why those reporters are going to be here today."

Penny blushed and said, "I don't get it, I'm not the star, Jeanie is, shouldn't they be talking to her?"

"They have been," said Kelli, "up until now. She was the most well known, although with that Marvel contract, Dave was catching up fast, but both of them have been doing interviews, talking about the show, and the press has been ignoring you and Brent. Now, however, critics have gotten a peek at you, and they want to know more, so we have arranged for you to talk to them around 12:30, to give you a chance to grab something to eat."

Penny was completely flabbergasted, "Well…uh…I…what…"

"What's wrong Penny?"

"I'm not used to this," said Penny still a bit shocked. "I'm someone that is just coming along, I don't understand the interest and with all the mistakes I've been making, I'm not sure it's right for me to do the interviews."

"You don't want to do the interview?"

"Oh," said Penny, "if you really need and want me to do that, I will. I owe you and Jim a lot."

"Penny, relax," said Kelli. "Remember when I told you Jim saw something in you? Well, I can see it now also. You literally jump off the screen with the way you do your lines and your expressions. Interviews like this can help your career. We can talk after the table read, and I'll try to answer any questions you have, if you wish."

"OK, see you then," said Penny sounding relieved. She turned back to the table, again looking over the fruit.

 **Caltech Cafeteria, 8:30 AM Wednesday September 11th 2012**

Leonard and Sheldon were having breakfast, at the university. They had to attend a department meeting at 9 AM and they had both come in early to prepare for it. As with everyone in the department, the four students Leonard was working with, had been given the day off, so there weren't any experiments running this morning.

They were talking about Penny, about Amy, and about how Howard would be home in a week, when Alex walked up, handed some papers to Sheldon and started to leave. Leonard spoke up, "Would you care to join us, Alex?"

"Leonard," said Sheldon, "is it proper for a lesser employee to join us?"

"What?"

"She is my employee," said Sheldon, "we shouldn't be interacting outside of our job."

"Oh, sure," said Leonard. "but, if I ask her to join us as a regular social interaction, then you aren't involved."

Sheldon considered that for a few seconds, then said, "All right."

"Please sit down, Alex," said Leonard.

For the next half hour, Leonard and Alex talked about her work, Leonard's work, and, of course Sheldon's work. Alex was asking where Leonard got his PhD and for what, how old he was, how long he lived with Sheldon. He was giving what he thought were funny answers, and she was laughing at his replies. Finally she asked if he was dating.

At that Leonard chuckled, "Yeah, you startled me when you introduced yourself. My girlfriend is an actress and she had to change her name when she got her job. Her name is now Penelope Jensen."

Alex laughed at that and said, "So she doesn't work here at Caltech?"

"No," said Leonard. "She's not even here right now, she's in New York, shooting her TV series."

Alex looked thoughtful and said softly, "In New York, huh? So you don't get to see her much, do you?"

"Yeah, every two weeks," said Leonard. As a matter of fact, she just left yesterday, so she won't be back for a couple of weeks."

"Good, good," said Alex.

"Good?"

"Oh, yes," said Alex, looking embarrassed, "I meant it's good you get to see each other."

"Oh, yes it is."

Sheldon stood up, "We have to go, the meeting is in five minutes."

At that, Leonard and Alex stood and followed Sheldon.

 **Studio 44, 11:30 AM Wednesday September 11th 2012**

The table read had just concluded, with Kelli walking right up to Penny. "Did you think about it?"

"There wasn't much to think about," said Penny. "I owe you guys and if it helps the show, I'll do it, but I'm nervous I might say something wrong."

"Don't worry about that," said Kelli, "they are here to do a report on the show. They will be kind, it won't be any of the tabloid crap."

Penny took a deep breath and nodded.

Jeanie walked up, and said, "You ready to go?"

Kelli said, "She's got two interviews to d."

"Oh, those were today?"

"Yeah," said Kelli, "Jim and I set them up when there were questions about Penny. Talk to her Jeanie, I've got to run, see you around one Penny."

"So you have interviews, huh?" Said Jeanie sitting in a chair next to Penny.

"Kelli told me there are a couple of reporters that want to interview me, they've seen the screeners, and I guess I've done well."

"You have," said Jeanie.

"Huh, what do you mean," said Penny.

"I've seen the screeners, Penny," said Jeanie.

"What the hell?" said Penny. "Has everyone but me seen them?"

"I think so," said Jeanie, "I didn't want to say anything before Kelli did. I know a couple of people who write for major magazines, and they called me to ask about you. You've created a lot of buzz."

"For what?"

"Your performance," said Jeanie. "Those first few shows are a perfect showcase for your abilities. There are a lot of writers and reporters out there who want to interview Penelope Jensen."

"What the hell is wrong with them?" said Penny sounding puzzled. "I don't deserve that. You, of all people, know how many problems I've had. Not to mention something like that flat out scares me," she started speaking faster and higher, "what if they find out about all the mistakes I'm making, they'll think I'm a big fraud, what happens, then…"

"Penny, calm down," said Jeanie, putting her hand on Penny's arm. "Think of it as a game. They ask you questions, you carefully consider their question and you give a short answer. Besides, I know both of them, and these two will be throwing you softball questions. You won't have to worry."

"I don't get it," said Penny. "Wait, you sounded like you knew about the interviews today. How did you know about it?"

"I told you, I got several calls," said Jeanie. "Several of them last week, when the screeners were released. Got a couple more from the people who Jim and Kelli approved to talk to you. You go do the interviews, and when you get home, come up to my apartment."

Penny was still confused, "Ok, I guess, but…"

"No buts, go get ready for the interviews and enjoy yourself," said Jeanie rising. "I'll see you at the apartment, and we'll talk then." She smiled then turned and walked off.

 **Apartment 601 3:30 PM Wednesday September 11th 2012**

There was a knock on Jeanie's door, she got up from her table and peaked though the peep hole and opened the door. Penny was waiting there, looking upset.

"Come in, come in," said Jeanie, "what's wrong?"

"It's a combination of things," said Penny.

"Well tell me," said Jeanie. "I'll get us some wine while you start. Did the interviews go badly?"

"No, they went well enough," said Penny sitting on Jeanie's couch. "They asked where I was born, where I went to school, if I was seeing anyone, the usual. They asked me what I had done and they seemed surprised that I've done so little. They did tell me how funny I was, but I'm not sure exactly how I did. They also said something about how I was probably going to be the breakout star. How does one become a breakout star?"

Jeanie handed Penny a glass of wine, went to the other end of the couch and sat down, and said, "It means that you will probably get the most attention, be the most well known from the show."

"No," said Penny, "I didn't say what happens when you become the breakout star, I ask how that happens. You're the star, you and Dave. I'm just starting out, how can I be the star."

"Penny," said Jeanie, "they said the breakout star. That is something different from being the star of the show. It usually happens when the writers come up with a memorable character and an unknown or relatively unknown actor and is just perfect for the role. People remember that character and the actor for that character usually becomes a big star."

"But, you know how much of a mess I am," said Penny, "I don't deserve to be a big star."

Jeanie laughed, "Penny, no one deserves to be a big star, it happens. Fans like a certain character for different reasons, the character becomes popular, and the actor reaps the benefits."

"But you're the star, I don't want to be more popular than you. You're the one they expect to pull in an audience, not me. You should be getting the credit."

Jeanie laughed again, "Oh, Penny, you are going to have to learn some of the history of television. It happened a little bit to me, on _Sex and the City_. I was such a mean and bitchy boss, that the character became memorable, and there was a lot written about my character. I was fortunate that the women on the show were quite able to deal with it."

"As for TV history, in multi cams have you heard of _Happy Days_ or in single cams, _The Andy Griffith Show?"_

"I think I heard of _Happy Days_ , about the fifties in Chicago?"

"No, Milwaukee," said Jeanie, "and, Andy Griffith was set in a small town named Mayberry. He was the widowed sheriff, with a small son."

"Oh yeah," said Penny, "my mom used to watch that in repeats."

"Ok, that helps," said Jeanie. " _The Andy Griffith Show_ was named that because Andy Griffith was the lead actor. He had been on Broadway, he had done some comedy records, he had done films, he was really well known. His deputy was played by a guy named Don Knotts. Knotts wasn't well known, he hadn't done all that much."

"Well, it happened that his character, Barney Fife, became a huge fan favorite, the critics loved him, and Knotts won five or six Emmy's for his portrayal. Was Griffith angry about that? No, he knew it would help the show, to have people tuning in to see that character, so he added him into more scenes, until Knotts left the show for films."

"It happened on _Happy Days_ also. Ron Howard…"

"The big time director?"

Jeanie smiled, "Yes the big time director. He started as an actor, actually back on Andy Griffith, he played his son. Anyway, he was supposed to be the star of _Happy Days_ , and Henry Winkler was supposed to be a minor character, playing a tough guy, biker dude. But, the character became hugely popular, and his role got expanded. Howard welcomed the attention to Winkler, and he and Winkler have been friends since."

"But there are some cases where it didn't work out, right?"

"Oh sure," said Jeanie, "for instance, on _The Dick Van Dyke_ show, Rose Marie was supposed to be the main female character. But, Mary Tyler Moore became the breakout star and they started featuring her more. Their relationship was a bit strained, but Marie was a consummate pro, knew it would help the show, so she didn't let it show, she remained on friendly terms, with Moore, but not close friends."

"A more famous and angry example would be from the show _Cybil_ ," said Jeanie. "Cybil Shepard was the star of the show. Christine Baranski was the costar, and their characters relationship was similar to our characters. Baranski's character was sarcastic, like you, and hard drinking, unlike you, and Baranski won an Emmy for her portrayal."

"Shepard complained, in public, that the writers were writing all the good stuff for Baranski, and not for her. She took her complaints to the network and got the creator, who was also the executive producer fired. Her and Baranski never got along."

Penny looked sad, "See, that is what I'm worried about. I don't want us to get mad at each other. You've been so supportive of me, you're becoming a really good friend, and I don't want anything to come between us."

Jeanie patted Penny on the hand, "You don't have to worry about it. I'm more Andy Griffith or Ron Howard than Cybil. People tuning in to see you, increases the ratings of the show. Which means we'll be on longer, so I have a job longer. I don't have any kind of ego about this, I just want to work. And, if I'm working with you, that is a bonus."

Penny was smiling but had tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much," said Penny. "I just don't know what to say, and wonder if I even deserve this."

"You do," said Jeanie, "these types of interviews, and the interest in you are really great things for your career, just remember me when you become a big star, and I need a job." She laughed.

"Really, just promise me something, if you, as I expect, do become a star, please remember me when you work with a new actor. Bring them along, if they are struggling, help them. If they have questions, answer them if you can, or if you can't answer, find someone that can. And, above all, act professional around them at all times, on set, OK?"

Penny nodded her head, "OK." Penny leaned over and gave Jeanie a hug, "Thank you."


	32. Chapter 31

**A/N I'm still not well, running a fever, but getting better. I have started writing the next chapter in first draft, so here is this chapter. There is some humorous wordplay or references in this chapter (or what I consider humorous). If you think you spot both of them, let me know. I'll give the answer in an A/N in one of the next two chapters.**

 **Chapter 31**

 **Studio 44, 12:30 PM Thursday September 13th 2012**

They had gotten through setting the blocking for the show, and had broken for lunch. Jeanie and Penny were sitting at their apartment's dining table, eating, talking, and reviewing their blocking, when Kelli walked up.

"Hi Kelli," said Penny, "What's going on?"

"How did the interviews go?" asked Kelli.

"I thought they were good," said Penny, "but I guess I'll know when I see the articles."

"Well, of course you want to wait, to see the full thing," said Kelli with a smile, "but, I have some advance information if you want to know."

Penny looked at Jeanie, and she simply shrugged. "OK, what did they say about me?"

Kelli smiled, "They are very happy for you. You charmed them. They thought you were very humble, telling them they should be interviewing Jeanie, or Dave, as they are the stars. They also found you rather funny. Overall, they are very impressed, and will write good articles.

Penny was smiling, but she was relieved, as she didn't know what, exactly, the press had thought of her.

Jeanie was looking at Kelli, smiling, "Should we tell her about the other thing?"

Kelli looked at Jeanie, "I don't know, do you want to tell her, or should I?"

Jeanie smile, "You go ahead."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Penny.

Kelli spoke up, "You have an appointment on Monday afternoon, with the William Morris Agency."

"What?"

"You have an appointment with the William Morris Agency," said Kelli.

"How did you…"

"It wasn't her Penny," said Jeanie, "I talked to my agent, who talked to the upper management…"

"Who then called to talk to me," said Kelli. "And, as a result, you have an appointment with, Jeanie's agent and upper management."

"Wait a minute," said Penny sounding upset, "what about my agent? Do you think I would just leave her?"

"You want to take this Kelli?"

"Sure, make me the bad guy," said Kelli smiling.

"Actually, they have talked with your agent. William Morris and your agent have agreed to terms. Your agent gets to keep her commission for this show, she gets a percentage of any and all of your work you start for the next five years. After that, she's done."

"But how did they know?"

"It's my fault Penny," said Jeanie. "After you got back from LA and talking to your agent, you were telling me you had some thought about changing your agent, as long as your LA agent was taken care of. So, I mentioned it to my agent and I figured there would be some preliminary talks, you'd get involved, there would be some more talks. I didn't expect for your agent to agree so quickly, and without talking to you."

"Just remember, if you don't like the deal, you don't have to take it. If you don't like my agent being your agent, you don't have to use her, you can get another from William Morris. Or, you can just not have William Morris, it's your choice. I didn't mean to overstep, and I feel bad about it. But, like I said, I also didn't expect things to move so quickly."

Kelli said, "Yeah, that was a surprise, it usually takes several weeks, at least."

"That's because my California agent agrees that I need an agent," said Penny, "well, actually, an agency, that can cover both coasts. So I'm not surprised she agreed so quickly. She does truly care about me."

"I truly am sorry, Penny," said Jeanie. "I just want you to know the main reason is I believe you have a great future ahead of you, and the sooner you get both coast representation, the faster your career is going to take off."

"Penny," said Kelli, "I agree with Jeanie, you really need representation on both coasts. Why don't you call your agent and talk to her? If you're not agreeable, we won't do it."

"That's OK," said Penny. "I know both of you were just trying to help."

"Yeah, but, I'm sorry."

"That's fine, Jeanie. Please don't worry about it." said Penny. "However, I want to talk to you, Kelli."

"What about?"

"Are you trying to help me here, also?" Said Penny.

"What do you mean?"

"My scenes this week," said Penny. "All of them have me either sitting down or standing behind some piece of furniture, I don't do any walking around this week, almost everything is me standing still. Did you, Jim, Sam, and the rest of the writers come up with that so I wouldn't make mistakes?"

"Actually that did come up," said Kelli with a sly smile.

"So you are doing it," said Penny.

"No," said Kelli laughing, "I said it came up. The writers wrote it, and I said, 'She's going to think we did this because of all her problems.' The writers didn't think you would, because they just wrote it as part of the plot, so now I get to tell them I was right. No, we didn't do it for you, it's just how the story worked out this week."

Penny looked sheepish, "Sorry, Kelli."

"That's OK," said Kelli, "I would have thought that too, so don't worry about it, but come and talk to me after you get finished today, OK?"

"What about?"

"I just want to go over some things about the agency, and what you can expect when you go in on Monday. You come too Jeanie, so you can correct me when I get something wrong."

"OK," said Penny, "I'll see you at the end of the day."

 **Apartment 314, 6:30 PM Monday September 17th 2012**

Penny and Jeanie had just gotten back from dinner, they found an Italian restaurant a couple of blocks north of where they lived, not somewhere they normally went. Jeanie was interested in how Penny's meeting with William Morris had gone, but Penny wanted to wait until they got back to the apartment.

After getting to Penny's, Penny poured each each of them a glass of wine and they sat on her couch, Jeanie spoke up, "OK, we're home, tell me what happened today."

Penny smiled, "It went really well, and the stuff you and Kelli told me was really helpful. I met LeAnn, the VP as soon as I got there. I spoke with your agent, Cara and one they wanted me to get to know, Beth Davis. I talked to her for about an hour, and we're going to meet on Wednesday afternoon for lunch. I have a good feeling about her, but I just want to talk to her a bit more. LeAnn said if I didn't get along with her, they would recommend another one."

"I don't want you to be mad at me, but I decided not to go with your agent. It probably doesn't really matter, but we're close enough in age that we may get sent to the same jobs and I don't want have her have to decide which one of us to send, or having something like that affect us. The other woman probably has several younger women also, but I don't know them or know about them, so it's not such a big deal."

"I'm not mad," said Jeanie. "A bit disappointed, but just because you didn't chose her. Cara is a really good friend, as well as being my agent. But you have to be comfortable with your agent, you have to trust your agent, and if you can't, you're better off not having them. I don't think Cara would be a problem for either of us, or her representing both of us would cause a problem for her, but if you have any doubt, you did the right thing. How was everyone else?"

"They were so great," said Penny. "LeAnn took me around to meet all the people on the executive floor, the president, the head agent, all the different VPs, and they were all so nice. They all had seen everything on the screener disk and told me how glad they were to have me thinking about joining the agency."

"We also talked about my California agent. One of the financial guys told me which jobs my agent would get credit for, for how long, and how much. My agent had already spoken to the financial guy and agreed to all of this. They were working on contracts and I'll have to sign them, once they are finished. Cara did help me with one thing, even after I told her I wasn't going to have her as my agent."

"What's that?"

"She suggested I find an independent show business attorney, to go over the contract, and she gave me the name of one, someone outside of William Morris, so I would have someone look at the contracts. I think I'm going to do it."

"Was it Howard, Fine, and Howard?"

Penny grabbed her purse and pulled out a card and looked at it. She nodded and said, "Yeah, how did you know?"

Jeanie chuckled, "Cara recommended them to me, when I first signed with William Morris. They are completely independent and are a good choice. Many of the theatre actors use them as their attorneys. "

Penny said, "OK, thanks. I really don't know anything about finding a lawyer. I've never needed one, well maybe I should have gotten one with all my parking tickets."

"Make an appointment and stop by their office on Wednesday after lunch with Beth," said Jeanie. "Ask, Beth about it too. If she has your interests at heart, she should have no problem with you seeing them. They are well known as really good entertainment lawyers."

"I will," said Penny. "If I agree with the summary of the contract, I'll have them look it over before I sign it."

"Good move," said Jeanie. "And now, do you want to run over your lines and blocking?"

"You mean my two steps I take from the sink to the island?" laughed Penny.

Jeanie laughed and they went to get their scripts.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 5:30 PM Tuesday September 18th 2012**

Leonard was working on his whiteboard, trying to get some more calculations on the shape and size of the reflection for an electron, at different energies. He was getting a bit frustrated, but continued working as he was waiting for Sheldon to finish whatever he was doing and come down to the lab, so they could go home.

He heard a voice that was decidedly not Sheldon's say, "Dr Hofstadter?"

He turned to see Alex waiting at his lab door, and he said, "Hi Alex, what are you doing here?"

"Dr Cooper told me to come down here and tell you he would be going home with Amy."

"Why didn't he just call?" asked Leonard.

"Dr Kripke came into his office," explained Alex. "He was messing around with Dr Cooper's cell phone, and when Sheldon complained, Dr Kripke licked Dr Cooper's cell phone. Then as he was putting the cell phone down next to his office phone, he sneezed all over his office phone and his desk. He couldn't find any hand sanitizer, so he sent me."

"That sounds about right for him," chuckled Leonard. "I'm sorry you had to come down here, he could have given you my number and could have just called me."

"Well, then," said Alex as she brushed her hair back over her ear, "maybe you should give me your phone number, Dr Hofstadter." Leonard turned to look at her, and she quickly added, "you know, just in case he needs me to call you."

"That makes sense," said Leonard. He gave her his phone number and after she read it back to him, he said, "Alex, now you give me yours, so if I can't get in touch with Dr Cooper, I can call you."

She eagerly gave Leonard her number and said, "Thank you Dr Hofstadter."

Leonard looked at her and said, "When were not in an academic setting, you can call me Leonard."

"Ok I will, thank you Dr Hoftst… Leonard" said Alex.

Leonard smiled and turned back to his white board.

"What are you working on?" ask Alex, coming up and standing close to Leonard.

"Trying to calculate the shape of a laser beam reflection off of a particle," said Leonard, "depending on the power and frequency of a laser. I'm struggling with it. I asked Sheldon to look at it, and he hasn't gotten back to me."

Alex was looking at the board. "I'm not as conversant as you with the particle math, what are you trying to do with the reflections?"

"I'm thinking that if I can figure out the shape of any reflections," said Leonard, "I'll have a way to identify particles within an event at a particle accelerator…"

"And you would be able to detect new particles a bit more easily, by finding a new shape of a reflection." said Alex, finishing Leonard's sentence.

"Yep," said Leonard, "that's it. I'm also hoping to possibly figure out the reflection pattern of the graviton, as if we have the answer as to the shape, we might be able to determine the proper equations which give us that shape."

"And," said Alex, "a way to determine whether Quantum Loop Gravity or String Theory is correct."

Leonard nodded, "That's another thing I'm hoping for."

"Boy, you are really going after this thing aggressively, aren't you?" said Alex. "If you're having problems, why don't you show Dr Cooper this?"

"I've given him my work," said Leonard, "but, he probably thinks my work isn't up to his."

"I'm sure it is," said Alex. She put her hand on his arm and said, "Do you want me to talk to him about it?"

Leonard patted her hand, "No, you don't need to get involved in the craziness of your boss." He turned away and walked to his desk, as Alex watched him.

"Well, Alex," said Leonard, as he locked his desk and put his computer in his messenger bag, "It's time to go, and since he'll be with Amy, I guess I'll be eating alone again tonight."

"I know that feeling," said Alex. "It's really a bummer, isn't it? Having to eat alone and all. I've been eating alone every night since I got here." Her voice ended on what sounded like a hopeful note.

"Yeah, but you get used to it," said Leonard. "After a while, you start to find if you have no one, or the someone you have is far away, it's almost better to eat alone."

"I've never gotten used to it, Dr Hofst…Leonard," said Alex, looking at Leonard forlornly. "I'm always hoping I'll find someone to spend time with."

"I get that," said Leonard closing and locking the door to his lab. "I'll see you tomorrow Alex, have a good night."

"You too, Leonard," said Alex softly.

Leonard nodded and smiled, "That's better." He then turned and walked away, leaving Alex staring after him wistfully.

 **Studio 44, 10:30 PM Tuesday September 18th 2012**

Penny was changing in her dressing room. As she expected, with no movement, the taping went rather well for her. Sitting or simply standing while she said her lines was so easy, it almost made her feel guilty at how much the others had to move around.

She was at her makeup table, wiping her heavy show makeup off, and after finishing, she applied some light color to her cheeks, a bit of eye shadow and some mascara. She gave her hair a quick brush, and then packed her new script, pencils and markers in her bag, grabbed her purse and turned off the lights in her dressing room. She closed and locked the door and headed down the stairs.

Thirty minutes later, her and Jeanie were sitting next to each other in a booth, with Kelli and Jim sitting across from them and Sam at the end of the table. Brent was there but had chosen not to sit with the group.

Kelli and Jim were asking Penny how her meeting had gone. She told them the same things she had told Jeanie. Kelli and Jim also agreed that Howard, Fine and Howard were a good choice for entertainment lawyers, but they also recommended their own lawyer, Donald Dewey, or one of the other partners of Dewey, Chetham, Goode and Howe. Kelli gave Penny one of Dewey's cards

Kelli laughingly congratulated Penny on how well her blocking went this week. Penny just shook her head. The whole table was excited and talking about the first show premiering on Thursday. Kelli had thought about having a viewing party for the whole cast and crew, but decided against it. Her and Jim both planned to talk to everyone on Friday, to get everyone's impressions.

Around 12:30 PM, Sam left, and around one, Jeanie and Penny decided to leave. They said their goodbyes, and headed for the door. Just as they got there, Penny pointed to the corner table, and there was Brent, talking to a woman, he had his arm wrapped around her. Jeanie said, "He didn't bother you tonight, did he?"

Penny was surprised by the question, but said, "No, he didn't. To be honest, it was quite nice not to have to deal with him tonight. Do you think he finally got the hint?"

"Appears that he has," said Jeanie. "Come on, let's head home."

Penny agreed, opened the door, and they walked out, heading home.


	33. Chapter 32

**A/N I'm still a few chapters behind my planned buffer, but I finished the first draft of a chapter (48), so, as I said, I'll publish a new chapter. I've already gotten about half way through the next, so there should be another published next week. I'll give the answer to the wordplay from the previous chapter in Chapter 33.**

 **Chapter 32**

 **Studio 44, 12:30 PM Wednesday September 19th 2012**

The Table read was over, but there were still groups of people together, talking of various things. Penny was still seated at the table, writing some notes in her script. She heard someone next to her clear their throat and Penny looked up to see Brent standing there.

"Yes, Brent?" said Penny.

"I just wanted to tell you, I saw part of the screener."

"What about it?"

"I was at my agent's," Brent started, "and they were showing it to me. He was really impressed with you. I've got to say you were really good…no, very good. And I thought you might like to know."

Penny was looking at him, and for the first time she didn't feel like he was being creepy. _Maybe he can dial it down_. "Thank you, Brent, I appreciate it."

"You know how I know he meant it?" said Brent.

"No, how?"

"He wants me to see if you would be interested in coming to see him," said Brent, "about being your agent?"

"So that's why he said nice things," said Penny, "is that why you said what you said?"

"No, no," said Brent, "he really means it, otherwise he wouldn't have asked me to talk to you. As for me, no, you really are doing a great job."

"Well that's sweet," said Penny, "but, I've already signed a letter of intent with William Morris, and I have a meeting with the person who will probably be my agent. Jim, Kelli, and Jeanie are all with William Morris and they got to me last week. So tell him thank you for me, but I've already have something in place."

"Ok, no problem," said Brent. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Penny watched Brent leave, and thought, _That wasn't so bad, he seemed actually, nice, for a change. I hope he doesn't change back._ Penny picked up her script, her marker, her pencils and coffee, then walked to her dressing room.

Penny was thinking about the rest of her day. She was going to highlight her lines, then lunch with Beth, her prospective agent, then she had to come back because Jim and Kelli had set up two more interviews for her. Once she got home later today, she planned on trying several different tones and hesitations for each line. Then making her dinner, watching some TV, and then, of course, it was the night for that special Skype call with Leonard. She smiled at that thought

 **Apartment 314/4A, 9:30/6:30 PM Wednesday September 19th 2012**

Penny and Leonard had been talking for over a half an hour. For the first 15 minutes, they just told each other how much they missed the other, how much they loved each other and how nice it was to see each other.

Finally, they started actually talking, although their talk was in between more "I Love You"s and blowing kisses at each other. Leonard was telling Penny about his research, and the progress, though limited, he had made, and Penny started telling Leonard about how her interviews had gone that afternoon.

"It was so cool, Leonard," said Penny. "I did the first one, it took about an hour, then I got a break and the next person came in, and that took an hour. It's funny, they all ask about my childhood, about moving to California, about if I'm seeing anyone."

"And you said?"

"I told them about this fantastic physicist that works at Caltech, but since you weren't a big star, they quickly lost interest in talking about that."

"I'm glad I'm so interesting," said Leonard, with a hint of sarcasm. "They don't ask about the show?"

"They rarely ask me about the show, but both of them did today," said Penny "It seems that since the screener came out, everyone wants to know how I learned how to do all of that."

"Screener?"

"Yeah, CBS has put out a CD of the first few episodes," said Penny, "this way the critics can have their articles ready right after the show is on. Or, it seems in my case, they like what they've seen of me and want to get to know me better."

"What do they think?"

Penny got a huge smile, "They really like me Leonard. They are telling me how great I'm doing. How my comments and facial expressions are so funny. That they are the highlight of the show, which makes me feel bad at times."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not the star," said Penny. "Jeanie and Dave are the ones who are leading this show. And, Jeanie is the one that is helping me, get to where I can do all those things."

"But, you are still doing those things," said Leonard, "so that's what they are seeing."

"I suppose," said Penny. "It does feel good that they are thinking and saying nice things about me. Kelli told me there's a lot of talk, about me, in the business right now. Most of it is good, but with all the problems I'm having, on set, I just can't believe it."

"Well," said Leonard excitedly, "the first episode is on tomorrow night. I can't wait to see you on television for the first time. I also can't wait for everyone else to see how good your are."

"I know, I can't wait," said Penny excitedly. "Is everyone there going to be watching tomorrow?"

"No, it's just going to be me tomorrow, and Amy and Sheldon with me again on Friday," said Leonard.

"Oh, isn't everyone coming over?" asked Penny, sounding disappointed.

"No," said Leonard. "Amy has some sort of academic thing and Sheldon is going with her. Raj, I think, is staying home. Bernadette got sick just before Howard came home from the space station, and now she's given it to Howard. They are both down with what sounds like the flu."

"What about you?" Asked Penny, now sounding sad.

Leonard could tell she was upset, "I'll be watching, I wouldn't miss it. Even though, you did tell us it would be the same as what we saw during the taping."

"I would still think you would all be watching."

"Penny," said Leonard, "Amy had to attend either this week or next week, she chose this week, so she could be here with you next week. Howard and Bernadette are sick, so I'd rather they get well and come next week, especially since you'll be here. Raj, he's really only been coming over if others are here. We seem to have drifted apart, since…er…that night last year."

Penny knew exactly what he was talking about, and felt guilty.

Leonard continued, "With all that, they decided to do everything they could this week, so they could be here when you came home, next week."

"I suppose that makes sense," said Penny, "I guess I should be happy they want to be there with me."

"They wanted to be here so they could watch it with you. And remember," said Leonard, "next week will be a new one to everyone except you, you'll be able to tell us all about what went on."

Penny's mood got better, "Oh, Ok, that's so great they want to be there with me. Thank's for explaining it for me, it makes a lot more sense now. Thank you, Leonard. I guess that it is better, so tell everyone thank you for me."

"I will," said Leonard. "We're planning dinner for everyone around seven, that will give us time to clean up and then we'll be ready to watch at eight. You really didn't think they didn't want to watch your show, do you?"

"Well, I wasn't sure, I guess since they've seen it before, I can see why they may not want to watch again."

"Oh, they are watching, even if it's not when it's on," said Leonard. "They are all planning on recording it. Amy and Sheldon will be here Friday to watch it with me. Of course it will be my second time."

Penny smiled. "OK, now I feel all right about them not watching tomorrow. Thank you sweetie. Just wait until I get home Wednesday morning, I'll make sure you get thanked then."

Leonard smiled back at her, "You have everything ready for the trip home?"

"Yep, got the car scheduled to pick me up at one AM, got my ticket, and I'll be heading to JFK about two hours after we finish."

"And I'll be there at LAX, to pick you up," said Leonard. "I can't wait to get you home."

Penny got her wolfish grin, "Well, then, how about you take me to your room, right now, and I can show you what you're going to get when I get there."

"Why my room, why not right here?"

"Leonard," said Penny, "it's comic book night an I'm guessing Sheldon will be home shortly."

Leonard looked at the clock, "Yeah, he and Amy should be home in …"

"Then take me to your room," said Penny.

Leonard picked up his computer, and headed for his bedroom.

 **Studio 44, Ten AM Thursday September 20th 2012**

Penny was waiting in her chair on the studio floor, waiting for the usual meeting to start the day. Right at ten, Kelli, Jim, Sam, and Steven came out together, all of them smiling. Jim called for everyone's attention.

"Ok," Jim said, "listen up everyone. Were going to do things a bit different today. Normally we block the show, then run the scenes several times. After lunch, we then do several run throughs, where we stop and fix blocking and or fix anything else."

"But, as you are all aware, our first show is on tonight. Kelli and I, along with Steven, have some people that want to talk to us, before the show runs. So, today, what we are going to do is do the blocking, then run the scenes a couple of times to find any major problems. Any other problems we can fix tomorrow."

"We hope to be finished by two-thirty this afternoon, and that includes a half hour lunch. We've got the order of the scenes set up. Dave, Brent, neither of you are in the first three scenes. For those, we will have Jeanie and one or our guest stars first, although that is the second scene. Then have Penelope and Jeanie, do their two scenes, then Dave and Brent's first two scenes. We'll go from there."

Penny was feeling good from the taping and from the interviews she had given. For her first two scenes, she quickly wrote down her blocking, then, as they worked the scene, she quickly forgot about it as they were running it back to back, so she had it in her mind, and didn't need to look at her script, except for lines.

After Dave and Brent's scenes, Penny and Jeanie did their third and fourth, and then everyone broke for lunch. After lunch, Jeanie and Penny had one scene with Dave and Brent, and they also had to wait on the Dave and Brent scenes, as they had the last scene of the day.

After they completed that, they both went to their dressing rooms, changed and headed home. Getting to their apartment, Penny reminded Jeanie they were going to dinner, and then watch the show. Penny got into her apartment, kicked off her shoes, and pulled out her iPad.

She was looking around for her interviews and was finding other articles that talked about her as an up and coming star. She wasn't even aware of these other articles, but it seem there were quite a few, and almost all of them had some nice comments about her. She was feeling pretty proud of herself as she continued to read new and different articles. At the end, there was one that was critical of her and wondered what all the fuss was, she hadn't even been on TV yet and from what the author had seen, there wasn't anything special about her. This ruined her good feeling about the other articles, and since she was going to be up late, waiting for a call from Leonard, she decided to take a nap.

 **Apartment 314, 7:30 PM Thursday September 20th 2012**

As they entered Penny's apartment, Penny said, "I don't understand, why don't you want to watch the show?"

"I hate seeing myself act," said Jeanie.

"Why?"

"I'd rather not say," said Jeanie. "There are many actors who don't for the same reason I do. But, you may not be one of those and I don't want to put ideas in your head. I'll be here, while you watch, but I won't watch, I'll be on my iPad."

"Come on, tell me Jeanie," said Penny. "I'd rather you watch it with me, than look around for interviews and articles about yourself."

Jeanie chuckled, "I never look up stuff about myself."

"Why not?"

"Penny, how about we talk about this after the show tonight?"

"But I want to know why I shouldn't watch."

"I'll do this," said Jeanie. "I will write it down on a piece of paper, then after the show, you can look at it, and see if you agree with me. Then, we can talk about it, along with why I don't look myself up."

Penny looked at Jeanie quizzically, but nodded.

"Now that we have that settled," said Jeanie, "why don't you get us a glass of wine and we can turn the TV on."

 **Apartment 314, 8:15 PM Thursday September 20th 2012**

The first half of the show was over, the commercials were on. Jeanie was at the dining table, looking at her iPad. Penny had come over, poured another glass of wine, and before heading back to watch the second half, said to Jeanie. "I hate this, I watch myself and I keep wincing, looking at the choices I made. I don't see how anyone could say I'm doing anything well."

Jeanie just nodded and said, "I told you we'll talk about it after the show."

Penny went back to sit and watch the show. While the second half played, Jeanie could hear Penny, "Why did I do that? Why didn't I look at Jeanie there? Oh, that is just plain stupid." Jeanie smiled, waiting for the show to end.

Penny came over and sat down. "Ok, so tell me why you hate watching yourself."

Jeanie slid the piece of paper over to Penny. She picked it up, and opened it, there was a short sentence, _I second-guess myself_ , is what Penny read.

"What do you mean?"

"I think about why didn't I do this, or why I did do that," said Jeanie, "just like you were doing, during the show."

Penny looked sheepish, "Yeah, I guess I was, wasn't I?"

"You will always see the flaws," said Jeanie, "you'll always see the things you think you did wrong. You can't win, cause you're going to be harder on yourself than anyone else, so you're just going to notice the bad things. Now you know why I don't watch."

"And I can see why now," said Penny. "What's going to happen next week when I'm there with all my friends, how to I keep from complaining?"

"Your best bet," said Jeanie, "would be to remember things that happened during the taping or during the week, and tell them about that, while you all are watching the show."

Penny thought about it, "That makes sense, I'll try to use it. Now why shouldn't I look at articles about me or reviews of what I do?"

"A couple of reasons," said Jeanie. "You don't want to read reviews and start thinking about what they are saying about you. They'll say something about what they think you are doing right, and then you think it will be better to do that even more. It doesn't work that way. Trust the director and do what he says. You could have three, or more reviewers saying various things, and some might even be contradictory, so why bother?"

"And the other reason?"

"Well, we all like looking at articles that tell us how good we are," said Jeanie. "But, what happens when we get a bad review, or we get someone who tells us how bad they think we are?"

Penny was thinking about what happened earlier in her apartment as she read the articles. "We get mad, or upset."

"Precisely," said Jeanie, "and all that upset is not worth the good reviews. One bad opinion or review, will ruin 99 good ones, so why chance it?"

Penny again thought of how she felt after reading the not-so-good article, and nodded.

"I don't expect you to buy that from me," said Jeanie. "Everyone has to learn it themselves. Just one little look, it won't hurt. But, as soon as you see that bad review, your day, evening, week, year, is ruined."

"Well then," said Penny, "I guess I'll make sure I don't look". She added, "Anymore," under her breath.

Jeanie smiled at Penny, "You will look, you can't help it, it's human nature. I still peek looks every now and again and I even know better. All I can say is try to get over looking as fast as you can." Jeanie looked at her watch, "I guess it's time to go home. Have a good night Penny, I'll see you tomorrow." Jeanie got up, gave Penny a hug, and left, waving before she closed the door.

Penny was looking at the door and said, "I'll make sure I don't look. Let's see, what else is on…oh… _Sex in the City_ , and Jeanie is in it. I'll watch this until Leonard calls.


	34. Chapter 33

**A/N I have quite a few notes for this chapter. I will not be putting out chapter 34 next week (34 of my numbering, this week is 34 for Fan Fic numbering, due to my prologue). I will be on the road starting tomorrow. I'm going to take the time over the next two weeks to concentrate on first drafts. As I've mentioned, I prefer to be 20 first draft chapters ahead of published (and 10 ahead of my copy corrections). I'm currently 10 ahead of copy correction, but only 15 ahead of publishing. Writing first drafts for the next two weeks, should get me close to being 20 ahead, and will allow me to increase the five between publishing and copy correction. This will be, with the different author notes, the longest chapter so far by about 30 words, (beating out the second chapter). This is mostly due to some changes I made right before publishing. For now, I'll let you get to reading, the rest of the notes will be at the end.**

 **Chapter 33**

 **Apt 314/Apt 4A, 11:45/8:35 PM Thursday September 20th 2012**

The ringtone for a Skype with Leonard came on, on her computer, and she clicked on the notification, accepting the call. "Hi, Leonard," she said after he appeared on her screen.

"Hi, Penny," said Leonard.

"So, how did you like the show?" said Penny, sounding excited.

"You were funny," said Leonard. "I was laughing for most of the show. Put together it was different yet the same from the taping."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew what was going to happen," said Leonard, "so it was the same. But, watching from the audience, you could see all the lights, the cameras, everything, so it was different and with just the actors on the screen it was more, intimate."

"I guess."

"And seeing it all at once was cool."

"So you liked it?"

"I loved it," said Leonard, "and I loved seeing you. It was so great seeing you on TV. A couple of times, I forgot it was you, and just thought of you as your character."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I'd get involved and it was like I was watching Jess' life. Then I'd remember it was you."

"That's the best thing you could have said Leonard," said Penny with a large grin. "Huh? Why?"

"That tells me I was doing great," said Penny.

"I still don't get it," said Leonard. "Why do you think it's so great I thought it was Jess, and not Penny?"

"If you were thinking it was Jess," said Penny, "I was doing my job. It means I was convincing as Jess and if I can convince those who know me well that I was Jess, others, who don't know me, should also be convinced."

"Cool," said Leonard, finally realizing what Penny meant, "what did everyone else think?"

"Before I answer that," said Penny, "I want you to promise not to say that to the others, I want their honest reactions, OK?"

"OK."

"I don't know what the others thought," said Penny. "Jeanie was here, but she didn't want to watch. I didn't understand that, until I watched."

"Huh?"

"Leonard," said Penny, "while I was watching, I was thinking of how I should have done something differently, or maybe just not do anything at all. I was getting mad at myself."

"I still don't get it," said Leonard. "You liked watching the hemorrhoid commercial."

"I can't really explain it," said Penny. "It could be because I now know what else goes into a scene and what I can and can't do now. I really didn't know what I was doing for the commercial. All I can say is I just didn't like watching myself tonight."

"You're still going to watch with us next week, right?"

"I'll be there, but I'll probably just act like I'm watching," said Penny. "Jeanie suggested that, and just think about what happened during the week. That way I can tell everyone there, the different things that happen throughout the week, like flubs, or mistakes, funny things like that. With all that, I won't have to watch the show, so be ready for that."

"OK," said Leonard sounding puzzled, "I'll try, but I don't get it."

"I'll try to explain it better when I get home," said Penny. "For now though, I need to get to bed, it is midnight here you know. I have to clean up and get ready for bed, and get up around eight, so, I'll say good night, sweetie."

"Night Penny," said Leonard, "I love you, see you Tuesday."

Penny smiled, "I love you too, see you Tuesday."

They both disconnected from the call.

 **Studio 44, 10:00 PM Friday September 21th 2012**

Penny and Jeanie were sitting in their chairs, on set, each had a cup of coffee. Jim and Kelli were due down shortly, they would be talking to everyone about how the show did the previous night. Penny, didn't really know much about ratings, she knew, basically, the more the better, and was talking to Jeanie about what each of the numbers meant, but at this point it was pretty confusing.

Penny was also interested in what Jim and Kelli would tell them about what critics thought about the show, about the cast, about everything. Penny hadn't looked at anything on the internet the night before, and figured Jim and Kelli would only tell them about good reviews.

Finally, Jim and Kelly, and, of course, Tina came out from behind the set and walked to stand in front of everyone. Jim cleared his throat, and said, "All right, everyone, lets settle down, I've got news."

Everyone quickly quieted down, and Jim began. "OK, these are all preliminary. We'll get the official overnight in about an hour, but, for now, we had a 2.2 in the 18-49 demo, with a total of 7.85 million viewers. Obviously, those aren't 'American Idol' numbers, but they are pretty solid middle of the pack type numbers."

There were some awwws, but Jim held up his hand and continued, "I'm really not disappointed. This is a new show, we were up against 'The X Factor' and '30 Rock' both of which are strong shows. We'll just have to see if we get some good comments, from critics, or through word of mouth, to help build our audience."

"Now, speaking of that," said Jim, "I've got seven reviews about the show, and several more that should come out over the next few days. I'm sure you are all wondering what exactly those reviews say."

"Generally, they are positive," said Jim with a smile. "They say nice things like 'funny', 'lot's of laughs', '…a rollicking funny half hour'. Since this is a comedy, those are very good to hear. Overall they like the set, costumes, makeup. All the technical things, if they are discussed, are lauded."

"As for our actors," said Jim, "overall, they are very pleased with who we have as our main cast. But there is one who has really gotten some good press. Here, let me read a couple, 'yada yada yada, here we are, One really bright spot, cast wise, was the introduction of Penelope Jensen. Her line delivery and facial expressions light up the screen, whenever she appears.' Jim smiled at Penny.

"Or how about this," said Jim, "the show has three strong veteran actors, who are overshadowed by the newcomer, Penelope Jensen. Her ability to bring out Jess' sarcasm and expressions, in a natural way, was a highlight for this reviewer."

"Or, this: this reviewer expected the solid performances from the three veteran actors, and they didn't disappoint. But, Penelope Jensen, appearing in her first series, steals almost every scene she is in. I predict a bright future for this amazing new comedienne."

Jim was looking at Penny, "There are several more such comments, I'll leave copies of the reviews by the craft services table, please, look them over." Penny looked embarrassed by the compliments, then the crew started clapping and cheering, and Penny blushed.

Jim held his hand up, "There are some other nice comments about the rest of the show. I'm really quite excited and I feel if we can bring the ratings up a bit, we'll be fine. These kinds of reviews and comments can't hurt. Anyway, everyone have a good day. Let's get started."

Everyone started walking to the areas where they needed to be to start rehearsal. The actors gathered together and Penny still looked embarrassed. The other three offered their congratulations, even Brent seemed happy for her. She started to apologize, for getting most of the comments, but was shut down by both Dave and Jeanie. Dave spoke up, "Penelope, if they think you make the show better, that's great. We'll have work."

Penny smiled, nodded, and remembering what Jeanie had told her, simply said, "Thanks." At that, Tina called out where the actors needed to be and Brent and Dave headed over to the guy's apartment set, and her and Jeanie walked over to their apartment set.

 **Apartment 314, 8:30 PM Friday September 21th 2012**

Penny poured her third glass of wine, took a healthy swig and thought about her day.

 _The start was great, the reviews, the comments from the crew, it was so great. But, then everything fell apart. I had written all my blocking down, just like Jeanie told me, but I didn't check it. After all, we ran the scenes right after he gave us our blocking, so I didn't need to check. And I didn't bother looking at them last night._

 _What I really should have been doing was looking at the sheet with all the symbols on it. We started the first run through and I didn't understand some of the symbols so my blocking didn't make sense to me. And on top of that, there was a bunch of the symbols I couldn't make out because I didn't write them clearly. So, of course, I screwed up that first run through._

 _After that, I shouldn't have tried to erase those and re-enter them, by myself, I should have known to check with Tina. So, I had parts that didn't have the correct symbols and other where I thought I knew what went where, but I didn't. So, between the wrong symbols, and not knowing what some of them meant, I destroyed the second run through._

 _Good thing we had lunch then._ _I didn't eat and just went to Tina to get the correct blocking and spent the second half of my lunch, looking at the cheat sheet Jeanie gave me, then rewriting the correct symbols and letters in my script. But, I screwed up the afternoon run too, because, again, even after running over the symbols, I still didn't know what all of the damn symbols meant._

She swore at herself. _Damn you Penny, you should have studied the damn sheet over the last few days. It was stupid to think I would know them without going over them. I've got to do some more studying of those damn things._

 _And, of course I have all those damn people from the press telling me how great they think I am, from the screeners. They don't know how bad I suck when putting this show together. I've got to get things together. I've let Jeanie down, I've let Jim and Kelli down, I've let the crew down, I'm just fucking useless._ She pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured another glass of wine. She look at her sheet of symbols for her blocking, pushed it away angrily and watched it slide off the table to the floor, then took another drink.

 **Apt 314, 7:00 PM Saturday September 22nd 2012**

Penny was sitting in her living area, watching TV. She was still feeling down about how the rehearsal had gone on Friday. She had woken up, this morning, with a hangover, but it wasn't a bad one and after some aspirin, and coffee, she was, by ten, studying her symbol sheet.

She took a break around noon, walking to the grocery store. On the way, she was looking into a casual clothing store, when she saw a sweatshirt in the window. She laughed and walked into the store, and bought it. After picking up several things at the store, she picked up a piece of pizza, for lunch, at a bodega, on the way home.

After arriving home, put her refrigerated items away, and put her new sweatshirt on the couch and then ate her pizza. After she finished her pizza, she put the rest of her groceries away. She retrieved the sweatshirt, removed the tags and again laughed at the saying on the front.

"I can't wait until I can show this to Leoarnd," said Penny out loud. "He should get a chuckle out of this." Looking at the shirt was a large symbol "Pi" at the top, with the words, "Irrational but well rounded" underneath the symbol. She took the shirt to her bedroom, and hung it up.

She headed back out to her table and again began studying the sheet with the symbols on it. By six she felt she had most of the symbols memorized and put the sheet away. She made some dinner, a pork chop and some mac and cheese, and after she was done, she cleaned up, did the dishes, then sat on her couch, flipping through the TV channels.

After about ten minutes looking through the channels, and looking at the guide, she realized there wasn't much to watch tonight. She was missing Jeanie, who had gone to her parents for the weekend, and was feeling a bit lonely. She tried calling Leonard, but there was no answer, so she left a message and decided to do some shopping online.

She left the TV on and was looking over some shoes, on her computer, when the name of a new nightclub caught her eye, and she giggled. Penny pulled up Yelp, and started looking at the reviews for 'Ph-D'. It was on the roof of a hotel, had a hot DJ with a large dance floor, great views of the New York skyline. On the other hand, it had a rather high cover, drinks were expensive and seemed to have a random process to get admitted.

She realized she hadn't been dancing in months. Leonard didn't like to dance, and although he would go if she asked him, he was happy when she went out with her girlfriends. Since getting back together with Leonard, she had started not going out dancing, at all, when Leonard didn't want to go. However, Leonard wasn't here, and she felt an overwhelming urge to go to a club. _Screw it, I can afford a high cover and expensive drinks now. I'm going dancing._

Penny got a shower and washed her hair. She put on her bra and panties, and then used her hair dryer and brush to give her hair some body and waves. She went all out on her make up, then put on her little black dress. It showed a rather large amount of cleavage and came halfway up her thigh. A pair of five inch heels completed her outfit. Looking in the mirror, she felt the way she looked would let her get into any club. Grabbing her phone, she saw it was 9 PM when she called for a cab.

A half hour later, the cab dropped her off in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, at a hotel called "The Dream". She gave the cab driver her fare and pretty good tip. She walked up to the door indicated for Ph-D, the guy there looked her over and said, "Whada want?"

"I'm here for the club, Ph-D" said Penny.

The bouncer jerked his thumb and said, "Backa da line."

This was something new for Penny as she was used to getting into a club with nothing more than her looks. But, here in New York, it must be something different. Penny noticed quite a few women, waiting in line, who looked as if they would get into any California club.

She was feeling kinda let down, and started to turn away when she heard, "Hey dude, that's the woman who was on the new show I was telling you about, the one that's set in New York."

Penny turned to see a young guy, with blond hair, in a shirt identical to the bouncer's, looking at her.

"Whada ya talkin' about?" the bouncer said.

"That girl," said the young guy pointing at Penny, "is on the show I was telling you about, the new show, on CBS I think. It's set in New York." He waved at Penny, "Hey, you, come here."

Penny approached the roped off area. "Yes?"

"Your name," the young guy said, "it's…it's …Penelope…ahhhh…dammit, I know this."

"My name is…" said Penny.

"Jensen, Penelope Jensen, yeah, that's it," said the young guy, "you're Penelope Jensen."

Penny smiled and nodded.

"Dude, you got to let her in," said the young guy, "she's starring on a TV show."

"I don' know," said the bouncer. The young guy came over to the bouncer and pulled out his phone. He tapped it a couple of times and there was a picture of Penny on the screen. He was showing it to the bouncer, and showed him something about Penny and the show. Finally, the bouncer shrugged his shoulders and opened the rope, letting Penny through.

Penny thanked him, and then thanked the young guy for recognizing her. He shrugged it off, and asked if she would sign one of the flyers, Penny nodded and took the flyer and pen he offered.

"Make it out to my friend Jeff."

Penny smiled and signed it as requested. She gave Jeff the flyer and his pen and he looked at her signature and said, "Follow me, I'll make sure you get some good service. You usually have to buy a whole bottle, but I'll make sure you can get single drinks."

Penny followed him to the bar near the dance floor. He spoke with the bartender for a few seconds, pointed to Penny, and bartender nodded and waved her over, as Jeff left. She got a glass of wine and found a seat at the bar. The bartender said, "If you want to dance, let me know and I'll hold your drink behind the bar, so there's no funny business."

She thanked him, gave him her drink and walked out to the dance floor. She danced on and off for the next couple of hours, with several breaks to sit and have her drink, finishing four glasses of wine. She really didn't like the dance floor, as a various guys were continually bumping into her. Their hands ending up on parts of her body that made her think the bumping was intentional.

She also wasn't interested in any of the guys who wanted her to come to their tables, wanted to slow dance with her, or offered to buy her a drinks. After the bartender's offer, she was worried about getting drugged if she accepted. Finally, after another half an hour, and her sixth glass of wine, she was starting to feel it, and decided it was time to leave.

She found Jeff and he hailed a cab for her. Penny thanked him, gave him a rather generous tip, and entered the cab. It wasn't quite as long of a drive back to her apartment, due to fewer cars being in the streets at this hour.

She paid the cab driver and gave him a rather large tip, then stumbled her way into her building, and into the elevator. She almost fell over a couple of times, waiting for the elevator to get to her floor. Getting out of the elevator, she stumbled down the hallway, to her door and struggled a bit to get it open. Finally, she got it opened, entered her apartment and locked her door.

She wove and stumbled her way down the entranceway, missing the turn to the bedroom. She backtracked, making it to her bedroom. She fell on the bed while taking her clothes off, almost staying there. She finally pulled herself up, and getting into the bathroom, managed to get two aspirin down, along with two glasses of water, and brush her teeth. She then fell into her bed nude, forgetting about her pajamas, and was asleep within five minutes.

 **A/N A couple of things. One, the ratings I've used, for Penny's show, do put it solidly in the middle of the ratings for that season (2012-13). The X Factor and 30 Rock were both in the mid-threes during that season, with around 10 million viewers. Funny point, this season, TBBT is bringing in right around the demo I have here for Penny's show, and is the number one scripted series by about three tenths of a point, gives you an idea of how bad the ratings have gotten, overall, for broadcast television. The other thing, the club Penny goes to, Ph-D, is an actual dance club in New York. When I decided to have Penny go dancing, and looking up clubs she could have gone to, I couldn't resist using this one.**


	35. Chapter 34

**A/N Hi all, after a two week break, it's back. I was able to do a bit of catch up, and I'll be doing a bit more. I'll cut the time between chapters to a week and a half between publishing for the next two chapters. That's two in three weeks. I've been cast in a play and while I learn my lines, this should allow me to get three first draft chapters done (one a week, maybe more), getting me to my full buffer.**

 **Chapter 34**

 **Caltech Cafeteria Noon Monday September 24th 2012**

The four guys were sitting at the table for lunch, it was great having Howard back again, although they were all getting rather tired of hearing about his trip to space. Raj and Howard both had a meeting to go to, and so had left, while Sheldon and Leonard finished eating.

They were talking about what the plan was for dinner that night, when Alex walked up to the table with her tray. Leonard offered her a seat at the table, and although Sheldon objected, Leonard told her not to pay attention to Sheldon, earning Leonard a glare from him.

She sat down and while she ate, Sheldon peppered her with questions about the various papers he had given her. She tried to answer, but she was laughing and giggling at Leonard, who was making sarcastic comments whenever Sheldon asked a question.

Finally, Sheldon, tired of the jests, just ask if she had found anything yet. She said she hadn't, but she had only looked through about half of the first batch of papers. Then Sheldon asked about the printer he told her to get, but Leonard asked her about her research, and she told him about her thesis on trojan asteroids, while flashing a large smile and twirling her hair.

"Does that include the Lagrange points?" asked Leonard.

"Yes, it does."

"Then you might be interested in a seminar on Wednesday morning," said Leonard. The math department is having one to discuss the calculations of the Lagrange points."

Alex looked down, when she looked back at Leonard, it was with a slight smile, "I'm not familiar with the math department here. Perhaps you can come along with me, to show me where it's located?"

Leonard was thinking about it saying, "I might be able to get…"

"You can't take her on Wednesday morning," Sheldon interrupted. "You're taking off work to go pick up Penny, when she comes home."

Leonard nodded. "I'm sorry Alex," said Leonard, "I can't take you. I have to pick up my girlfriend from the airport that morning. But, if you're still interested, Sheldon can show you the way."

Alex stopped smiling and suddenly stood up, "No, don't worry about it. You'll have to excuse me, I forgot I have to make another call about the printer."

"What do you mean?" said an indignant sounding Sheldon. "You told me you made the call."

"Yes, I made the preliminary call," said Alex. "Now, I have to call about when it will be delivered. They assured me you would have it by tomorrow, a day early. If you'll excuse me now Dr Cooper," then she turned and walked away.

Leonard watched her go, then asked Sheldon, "Did that seem weird to you?"

"Weird, how?"

"Well, she seemed put off, all of a sudden, that didn't seem normal," said Leonard.

"Of course it's normal," said Sheldon, "she does it all the time when we're working together."

"She said goodbye to you, but not me," said Leonard.

"Well of course," said Sheldon, "she works for me, not you. Why would she say goodbye to you if she doesn't work for you? Usually when I give her something to do, she leaves in huff."

Leonard could well understand her leaving in a huff, or being put off with Sheldon, but this seemed different, but he really didn't understand, so he put it out of his mind.

 **Studio 44, 4PM Monday September 24th 2012**

Penny had just finished her last shot of pre-taping. It had been her and Jeanie, for the first three scenes, then Jeanie was done and she went to her dressing room to wait for Penny. Penny's last scene was the first scene she ever had alone with Brent. She had been nervous, she thought how he was creepy most of the time and was afraid it might show, but working on this scene, he was absolutely professional.

The director called, "Cut," Brent said, "Nice work," and he left. Penny stopped by Jeanie's dressing room to tell her she would be about five minutes, then went to her own dressing room, to change and pack up.

A half an hour later, Jeanie and Penny entered their building. As Penny was getting off at her floor, Jeanie asked if she wanted to come up for dinner. Jeanie had some chicken that was close to being past its use by date and was willing to cook for the both of them tonight. It took Penny only a couple of seconds to agree, she was grateful she wouldn't have to cook, then tell Jeanie she'd be up in a half an hour or so.

Jeanie had dinner ready just before six, and they refilled their wine glasses for dinner. During dinner, Jeanie talked about her time home for the weekend, about running into some old friends and how she just mostly lounged around. After dinner, they both cleaned up the dishes, then refilled their glasses and sat on the couch.

"So, you were pretty sharp today," said Jeanie. "You nailed the run throughs, and the pre-tapes. What did you do, study all weekend?"

"Pretty much," said Penny. "On Friday I screwed up pretty bad and ended up drinking too much that night. Then I studied most of Saturday, and all of Sunday. But, I'm still a bit shaky on what some of those symbols mean."

"Don't worry," said Jeanie, "the more you use them, the more familiar with them you will get. At some point, it will be second nature, and then you'll make little changes, to combine the symbols, so there is less writing."

Penny sighed, "I don't know Jeanie, I feel like such an idiot at times. This is a lot more work that I ever thought it would be."

Jeanie laughed, "What, you just thought you would walk into a series and toss off a performance?"

Penny looked downcast, "Well, acting always looked so easy, from the outside. I had no idea of the actual process."

"And yet you wanted to be an actress?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "I think it was more the glamour, than the actual job."

Well, what did you expect when you got to California?" asked Jeanie. "That during the first week, you would walk in, do your first audition, and become this big star?

Penny gave a rueful chuckle and said, "No, I was more realistic than that, although not much more realistic. I once told Leonard my plan was to be a big movie star in six months."

Jeanie laughed, "Did you have a backup plan?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "and I told him the backup plan was to become a TV star if the movie thing didn't work."

"Looks like you have hit your backup plan," said Jeanie with a giggle.

"But, it took much longer than six months, and I still don't know what I'm doing."

"Well, it didn't show today," said Jeanie, "you hit everything just fine."

"Because of all the studying I did this weekend," said Penny. "As I said, almost all weekend, but I don't have that much time, especially for the changes, during the week."

"I told you, don't worry about it," said Jeanie. "Those run throughs during the week are rehearsals, remember? That's what they are for, to perfect the show, so when we actually tape it, it goes well. You seem to be doing exactly that."

"As for the rest, you just keep working on it, and working on it, and it will become second nature. Earlier you said you studied almost all Saturday, did you go out to dinner?"

"Actually," said Penny, "I ate here and went out dancing Saturday night."

"What," said Jeanie looking shocked, "you went out all by yourself? The girl I had to go along with, just a couple of weeks ago, because she couldn't use the subway by herself? That girl?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "I went to a place called 'Ph-D'. I had to laugh at the name, since almost all of my friends have a PhD. I had a few drinks, danced a bit, but got tired of getting hit on, or attempts to feel me up or grab my ass. I finally sat down and drank a bit telling the guys I wasn't interested, then came home. I was kinda drunk, but not really bad, since I was back studying on Sunday morning."

"Wow, is that your first time out by yourself?"

"I hadn't really thought about it," said Penny. "I mean, I've run to the store myself, and gone down to the SAG office, but, yeah, that is the first time I've gone out on my own, for something other than eating or work."

"The only bad thing was I missed a call from Leonard," said Penny. "Since I had never gone out on my own, he was worried something happened to me. When he called Sunday, and I told him where I had been, he was relieved. I guess I should have called him to let him know, but it was kind of spontaneous on my part."

"Well, you evidently did enough studying this weekend," said Jeanie. "So, you deserved so time to blow off some steam. You did so well today, and I don't see a problem coming up tomorrow. So, congratulations, you are getting it."

Penny smiled, "Thank you. Coming from you Jeanie, I'll take that as a high compliment."

"I'm not that important in the big scheme of things," said Jeanie. "Just glad you had a good time Saturday night."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," said Penny. "I almost didn't get in, but one of the guys at the door recognized me from the show. He persuaded the bouncer to let me in."

Jeanie chuckled, "See, it pays to become a star, you get into places you wouldn't normally be allowed. Although that reminds me of Groucho Marx's comment."

"What's that?"

Jeanie smiled, "I wouldn't want to be a member of a club that would have me as a member."

Both Jeanie and Penny laughed, each finished their wine, then went and poured another glass.

 **Studio 44, 10:30PM Tuesday September 25th 2012**

Penny was sitting in Jeanie's dressing room, waiting for her to finish changing. Penny had brought her luggage, bag, and purse with her. The cast was going to Jake's Saloon to have a few drinks, as usual, after a taping, and Penny had arranged for a car to pick her up at Jake's and take her to the airport, for her trip back to California.

It wasn't long before Jeanie came out and she grabbed Penny's bag and purse, to help relieve Penny a little bit, making it easier to walk to Jake's. They found their group back at their normal table and Penny put her luggage and bag, which contained her computer, behind Jim and Kelli.

Kelli had already ordered wine for both Jeanie and Penny, although Penny requested a menu, to get something to each before her flight. She ordered a burger and fries and then they all started talking about how the taping went.

Jeanie said, "You nailed it again today Penny, like yesterday."

"Yes, in some ways you have," said Kelli, "You haven't had a problem the last couple of days, with the mechanics, but we seem to have to run it a couple of times to get the right reaction out of you."

"Yes, I know," said Penny sadly, "I guess I've just been putting a bit of pressure on myself to get the lines and blocking right, and have forgot about the emotion and facial expressions."

"You worry about the acting, and learning the mechanics as you go," said Jim. "You seem to be picking it up, but remember, we selected you for your ability to make sarcastic comments and your facial expressions. Don't pressure yourself to the point where you forget the reasons we hired you, OK?"

Penny nodded and her food came, so while everyone talked around her, she ate her burger and fries. For her second round, she ordered a soda, then for the next round, a glass of water. By then, it was almost one AM, and Jake's was closing.

They all finished their drinks, and headed out of the bar, to wait with Penny for the car that would take her to JFK. Jim, Kelli, Jeanie and Penny were all waiting there talking, when Brent walked up, "Goodnight everyone, see you next week. By the way, great job tonight, Penelope, see you all later."

Jeanie leaned into Penny and whispered, "He didn't hit on you."

Penny Whispered back, "I know, and he's been nice and complimentary to me. You think my comments finally got through to him?"

"I don't know," said Jeanie, "notice he didn't even have a date, or a pick up with him tonight, so who knows."

Just then the car pulled up, and while the driver loaded Penny's luggage, Penny gave hugs and said goodbye to Jim and Kelli, then hugged Jeanie and said goodbye to her. Penny got into the car and Jeanie called out, "See you next Tuesday, I'll have your script for you, bye."

Penny, waved through the window, then closed it as the car accelerated off, her first leg on her way home to California.

 **LAX, 7:30 AM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

The plane landed and Penny took out her phone, and noticed a text message from Gail Meador to call her as soon as she got in. It was 7:30, which Penny thought was a bit early, but the message did say as soon as she got in.

Penny dialed the number and after seven rings, a very sleepy voice said, "Hello?"

Penny said, "Is this Gail?"

"Yes," there was a pause, "oh my god, it's only 7:30 who the hell is this?"

"Gail, its Penelope Jensen," said Penny apologetically, "I'm sorry it's so early, but you said to call as soon as I got in."

"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Gail, "you caught me just waking up. Anyway, I have you booked on "The Late Late Show", with Craig Ferguson. I've been getting requests from his show and Leno about getting someone from the show on their programs. CBS would really be happy if you went on, after all they are our network. They want you on tonight, before the show airs tomorrow."

"Wow," said Penny excitedly, "Craig Ferguson? Of course I'll do it. I may have to take a nap though."

Penny heard Gail chuckle, "No Penelope, it tapes at six PM, at CBS Television Studios, You need to be there at four. Do you have a hair and makeup person?"

"No, I can get it myself."

"Let's see," said Gail, "I have a couple of very good, but rather new hair and makeup people. How about I send them over and they can do your hair and makeup for the show? If you like them, maybe you can look into using them as your makeup and hair people on a more permanent basis. You know, for award shows, or charity events, things like that. Do you have an outfit to wear?"

This was all going quite fast for Penny, but she managed to get out, "Yes I'll try those two for hair and makeup, no I don't have an outfit."

"OK, I'll text you a few pictures of some outfits a little after nine," said Gail. "Pick one of them out and I'll send it along to the show with the two people, and it will be there in your dressing room in time for you."

"OK," said Penny, "is there anything else?"

"I'll probably think of something," said Gail, "and if I do, I'll call or text you."

"Thanks, Gail," said Penny, "Talk to you later."

"Ok, Penny," said Gail, "I'll call around two PM, bye."

They both hung up, just as the plane pulled up to the gate. Penny got her bag and purse and a few minutes later, was walking off the plane onto the jetway. A few minutes after that, she was hugging Leonard, who had been waiting just past the security checkpoint.

They collected Penny's single piece of luggage and were soon on the way to Pasadena.

As they drove, Leonard and Penny talked about her flight, how she felt, and finally Leonard said, "I've got it all planned out for you today. Brunch at Marston's, then I have two meetings to attend, I'll get off early to come back to the apartment, then we can get ready for dinner…"

"Slow down Leonard," said Penny, "as I was getting off the plane, I got a call. I have to be at a CBS studio at four, I'm going to be on "The Late, Late Show" with Craig Ferguson."

"So, we can't go out for dinner," said Leonard, sounding disappointed.

"No, no," said Penny, "we can go out, we just have to do it after the taping. They wanted someone from our show, and I'm the only one here in California. They want me on tonight, be fore the show tomorrow."

"But don't worry," said Penny, "I'll do the show and then we can go find dinner, then, when we get home, I'm sure we'll figure out something else we can do."

Leonard grinned at Penny, "OK, but I have other things planned over the weekend, so just remember that."

Penny reached over and rubbed his arm, smiling at him and nodding.


	36. Chapter 35

**A/N Ok, After a week and a half, here's the next chapter. Next one will be a week from Monday. I've gotten two first draft chapters done, and should have a couple more done, and be caught up. I'm now also caught up on my completed copy edited chapters. So, now would be a good time to thanks my two readers. TBBT78 for checking the first drafts and great suggestions and bfm10 for the copy editing and also great suggestions. I wouldn't be at this point in the story, without you.**

 **Chapter 35**

 **Marston's 10 AM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

Leonard and Penny had just finished their brunch, and the waitress had laid the check on the table. Penny took a drink of her coffee and said, "So, can you get off this afternoon, like, get home around 2:30, since you took off this morning?"

"I think so," said Leonard. "The meetings will be short, they are with a couple of my grad students, just checking up on their work. Most importantly, I got Amy to bring Sheldon home, so yeah, I'll be off in time. Do I need to wear anything special?"

"I don't think so," said Penny, "if you wear a collared shirt, and a jacket or coat, I think that will be fine. You'll be in my dressing room the whole time."

"Ok, I'll change my shirt and grab a jacket when I come to pick you up. You about ready? If I'm going to get off early, I really should get back from being late." He grinned at her.

Penny laughed, then nodded. Leonard picked up the check, as they went to pay, then leave.

 **Apt 4B 2:15 PM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

Leonard entered the apartment, calling out, "Penny, I'm here." He looked around and didn't see her, heard the shower and walked into the bathroom and called out, "Penny?"

He heard a shriek, then Penny saying, "Quit doing that Leonard. You scared the crap out of me. And what are you doing here, it's only two."

"Well, I didn't want you to be late," said Leonard. "And at this time, it could take 45 minutes to an hour to get there, so I wanted to leave about 15 minutes early, around three."

"Well, let me finish my shower," said Penny. "Why don't you go get a clean shirt and a jacket? Then we can talk about it."

 _Talk about it?_ thought Leonard. He ran over to 4A, picked out a white shirt, then found a sports coat, and put them both on, then walked back over to 4B. He sat at the table, waiting for Penny.

Penny had put her hair up in a bun, and after her bra and panties, put on a dark blue skirt, with a white blouse, then put on a pair of low-heeled white shoes. Leonard kept looking at her, and at one point said, "Wow."

"I take it you like it?" said Penny.

"Yeah, I do," said Leonard, "but, I thought they were bringing an outfit for you to wear, why not dress casual?"

"Because, silly," said Penny, "we're going out for dinner afterward, and I wanted to look nice for you. After all, you look pretty sharp yourself, with that jacket on."

Leonard stood up and looked in the mirror, "I suppose you're right. So what is this talk we're supposed to have?"

"We don't have to drive," said Penny. "They are sending a car for me. Since this is a network thing, they got me a car. It'll be here around 2:45, so they already have the time figured in."

"Oh, Ok," said Leonard, "so what happens afterward, they bring us back here?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "I have everything in my bag, or my purse. After the show, they'll bring us back here, then we can get in your car and go for dinner."

"So do we wait here, or outside?"

"We wait up here until I get a call," said Penny, "they'll…" At that moment, the phone rang and Penny answered, "Hello…" she listened for a few seconds and then said, "OK, thanks," she said, "they're here Leonard, come on, let's go." They left the apartment, locked it, then walked down the stairs.

 **CBS Television City, 3:30 PM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

Penny and Leonard were at the guard gate, arguing with the guard. Even the limo driver was telling the guard who she was, but he would not let them in, as the paperwork he had said it was Penelope Jensen, and that name did not appear on Penny's drivers license.

Penny was getting rather angry, when Leonard suggested she call "What's her name, you know, the one that set this up?"

Penny realized he meant Gail, so Penny called her and explained the problem. Gail told Penny it would be a few minutes but just wait, then hung up. A few minutes later the guards phone rang, and he answered it. After a minute or so, he came out and asked for Penny's driver's license.

"Ok, I have it," said the guard, "yes, that is the name on the license. Yes, she has blond hair. It is? OK, I'll write up a pass for her. What about the guy with her? OK, thanks."

The guard hung up, leaned out and asked for Leonard's license. He gave it to the guard and fifteen minutes later, they both had visitor badges and the car drove to Sound Stage 58. There was a woman outside waiting for them. Their car stopped, and Leonard and Penny both got out.

The woman walked up to them and explained that she was on Craig's staff, and she understood Penelope had problems getting through the main gate. They didn't want her to have the same problem, so she was out there to greet her, and lead her to her dressing room.

Five minutes later they were in the dressing room. Penny noted it was smaller than hers, without a shower, but it did have several makeup chairs, and what looked like a changing room, which made sense, since this was used by someone else, every day, while they were getting ready for the show.

And, noted Penny, unlike her dressing room, it had a small food spread, with drinks laid out. Since it was going to be a few hours before they ate, they each made up a small plate and took a bottle of water.

 **CBS Television City, 4:30 PM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

Penny and Leonard were talking about how her show was going, when there was a knock on the door. Penny opened it and there was Craig Ferguson. Penny started stuttering, finally managing to squeak out, "Come in, please."

He came in and shook Penny's hand, then Penny introduced Leonard. Ferguson's interest was piqued when Penny explained what kind of doctor Leonard was. The two of them spoke about physics for a few moments, then Craig asked, "Can I have a seat?"

Penny pointed to a chair and said, "Of course."

After he sat, he asked Penny, "So, how do you feel about being here tonight?"

Penny looked at him and said, "Excited, but I've never done a talk show before, so really nervous."

"Don't worry," said Ferguson, "I'll ask few questions, you just give me an answer. I understand is the first time you've been in a series."

"Yes, it is," said Penny. "Actually, it's my first time doing any kind of television."

"Your show sent over a clip of you," said Ferguson. "It's the one where you and…um…Jeanie Corbette's character, I think, are at some restaurant with her boyfriend, and you are making some really snarky remarks to him, do you remember that?"

Penny nodded.

"Well, if you think it needs setting up, come up with a line or two, so people might understand it a bit better. Other than that just be yourself, and try to relax." He turned to Leonard, it looked to Leonard as if he had thought of something, but he only smirked, raised one eyebrow, and said, "Make sure she's relaxed before she comes out."

He rose, "We'll see you out on stage in a couple of hours. Enjoy your stay here. Leonard it was nice to meet you." With that, he rose, and left.

 **CBS Television City, 5:30 PM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

Sheila and Mindy were doing an intricate dance as they prepared Penny for the show. They were about Penny's age and really, like Penny, just starting out in the business. The two of them had come to the studio together, bringing with them the dress Penny had picked out. Now, all three of them were having a great time, talking and giggling, although Leonard didn't understand what exactly they were giggling about.

They took Penny into the changing room and a few minutes later, Penny came out. Leonard just looked at her, his mouth hanging open. Her hair fell in waves, down to her shoulder. Her face looked flawless, with some really fancy eye makeup, and her black dress was a few inches above her knee, and also exposed some of her cleavage.

"Close your mouth sweetie," said Penny, "it ain't polite."

Leonard said, "I thought you looked great when we left the apartment. But this… this is fabulous."

"He likes it ladies," said Penny with a laugh. "You both did a fabulous job, thank you so much. Now, all we have to do is wait about five minutes for the show to start."

 **CBS Television City, 6:10 PM Wednesday September 26th 2012**

As her segment came closer, Penny had gotten more and more nervous. Finally, Leonard talked to her, told her she would be great, told her he believed she would do a wonderful job. He told her to just be herself, and she seemed to calm down.

Finally, one of the assistants came and got her, taking her to the stage. Sheila, Mindy, and Leonard watched from the monitor in the dressing room. When Craig introduced her, she came out, her and Craig hugged and he led her to the desk and chair.

After telling her she looked lovely, Craig asked her, "So, you told me your boyfriend works at Caltech in physics, how much physics do you know?"

Penny hemmed and hawed, with Craig making some snarky comments. Finally, Penny was able to give a rather coherent description of Schrödinger's cat, which seemed to impress Craig.

He then told her they had a clip and if it needed any setting up. Penny said no, it didn't need setting up. The clip played and Craig was laughing, and said, "That's funny, your facial expressions are really great. Where did you learn to do those?"

Penny looked embarrassed and dropped her head for a few seconds. When she looked up, her cheeks were red, and she said, "I don't know, they just come naturally to me, and I guess my producers thought it would be useful, on the show."

He then said she didn't seem nervous, and ask if her boyfriend had relaxed her, and an embarrassed Penny tried to give an answer, using a word, which Craig turned into another double entendre. This caused even more embarrassment for Penny, and when she tried to explain, Craig turned that into another double entendre.

Leonard wasn't sure if he liked the double entendre bit, but the audience was laughing and he had to admit it was funny. Mindy told him Craig used that on almost all guests so don't worry about it.

Geoff, Craig's robot sidekick, said something snarky to Craig, who looked at Penny, winked and said Geoff, being a skeleton, didn't have a penis. Penny just blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, and said, "Like you?" Craig looked surprised, but tried to one up her. She quit smiling, and suddenly looked demure, and hurt. Craig saw this and started looking flustered, which finally had them both laughing.

Penny saw the producer point at Craig, and pull a finger across his throat. Craig immediately said they were out of time, and asked her what game she wanted to play. She won the Big Cash Prize game, saying it would come in handy for dinner tonight. Craig looked at her and said, "Penelope Jensen, everyone. She stars on 'Major's Tales', tomorrow night at 8 PM, on CBS. We'll be right back."

After the camera light went off, Craig told Penny she did great, then she left the stage and went to her dressing room, taking off the dress, as Sheila had to take it back to Warner Brothers the next day. She was talking to both Sheila and Mindy, along with Leonard about the show.

She got back into her own skirt and blouse and Sheila and Mindy prepared to leave. Penny spoke up, "Mindy, Sheila, I don't have anyone here on the West coast to get me ready for things like this, can I hire the two of you to do all my work?"

Mindy and Sheila looked at each other, then Mindy said, "We were going to ask you if you wanted us to be your," she put her hands up for air quotes, "glam squad. We had a lot of fun with you, and like you, we're just starting out, so we kinda match."

Penny said yes and they both gave her their cards, and agreed to meet the next time Penny was in town, to set everything up. They all hugged and then the two of them left.

Leonard asked, "How do you think it went tonight?"

Penny said, "It was fun. I was so nervous, and then he asked that question about what I know about physics. Good thing I know about the cat. But the big thing for me, was he somehow knew when I was struggling and he winked at me, then said something that got me back on track. Then we had that back and forth, but he made it fun and relaxing."

"Well, thank you," said Craig walking into the dressing room. "Didn't mean to listen in, but your door was open and I was walking by. But, that's my job, make it fun and relaxing, so you look your best."

Penny nervously asked, "Did I? I was pretty nervous out there."

"You did great," said Craig, "you came across as kinda modest and self-depreciating. Also, you sounded really sweet, and funny. And you gave as good as you got, so I think you'll like the response to this."

"Well, I mean it," said Penny, "it was easy to just talk to you, although, I was kinda embarrassed when you started referring to mine and Leonard's relaxing, and added all those doubles entendres, along with the other subtle comments."

Leonard smiled, "I wondered about all those comments about us 'relaxing' and those other comments, but Mindy said you always do that, so I quit worrying about it."

"Don't worry about it, she's right," said Craig, "I do that with most of my female guests, hell, a lot of my male guests too. Just part of the show, my wife would kill me if she thought I was serious."

Both Penny and Leonard laughed, and Craig said, "You two look dressed up, were you serious about going out to dinner?"

Penny answered, "Yes, we're going out for dinner, once the limo takes us home."

Craig shook his head, "I'll take care of that. I'll have the limo take you to a place I recommend, do you like Italian?"

Penny and Leonard nodded.

Craig continued, "It's called La Pergoletta, I'll get that set up and have the limo take you there." Craig got up and walked to the door, "After you eat, the limo will take you home. So take you time and enjoy the meal."

"Thank you so much Mr Ferguson," said Penny.

Craig smiled and said, "It's Craig, and thank you for coming Penelope, it was really enjoyable, so was meeting you Leonard. If you get back to LA after the first of the year, give us a call, I'll be happy to have you back on. It was a real pleasure." He left, closing the door.

"He's pretty nice, isn't he?" asked Leonard. "You about ready to go? I'm getting hungry."

"Yep, let's go," said Penny as she grabbed her purse and bag. "And, yes, he is pretty nice."

They left the dressing room and about five minutes later, they were in the limo, on their way to the restaurant. They enjoyed a leisurely meal, and not having to drive, had a couple of bottles of wine before the limo took them back to Pasadena.

 **Apartment 4B, 8:15 AM Thursday September 27th 2012**

Leonard was packing his messenger bag when Penny came out from the bedroom in her robe. Leonard said, "Glad you got up, I can say goodbye. You doing anything today?"

Penny was pouring herself a cup of coffee, "I've got to meet with my agent around one today, so we can go over my changeover to having William Morris as my agent. Then, I promised Sheldon I'd have all the plates and everything ready for everyone coming over tonight. I hope they enjoy the show, and I need to ask them about last week."

"Amy is bringing Sheldon home, I'll be getting the food and should be home around 6:45, and Howard, Bernadette and Raj will be over around seven. So I'll see you then."

Leonard walked over to Penny, gave her a kiss goodbye, started over to get Sheldon and go to work. Penny had a couple of cups of coffee, and mostly lounged around. She watched some television, looking around the internet on her iPad. She was a bit surprised she hadn't gotten any email, but it was still early in New York so it wasn't that big of a deal. She actually did some laundry, and around eleven, she took a shower, getting ready to go see her agent, probably for the last time.

She drove to her agent's office, parked her car and took the elevator to the tenth floor. The receptionist made a call and then told Penny she could go in. She opened the door and walked in. The woman looking out the window turned and Penny said, "Hi, Barb."

"Penny," Barb started excitedly, "where have you been, I've been calling you all morning."

Penny looked at her phone and it was on airplane mode. She had put it in that mode last night, and had forgotten to turn it back on. She had been on her iPad, but that was connected to her phone, so that explained the so she turned it on. She looked at Barb and said, "Why?"

"I've been getting calls from a lot of people, asking about you."

"I don't understand…what the hell?" said Penny. Her phone was continuously vibrating as notices that Jim, Kelli, Jeanie, Gail and many others had been trying to contact her came up on her phone. "Barb, what's going on?"

"You don't know?" said Barb.

"Know what?" asked Penny. "What the hell is going on?"

"Penny," said Barb, "You were a big hit on Ferguson's show last night. You got a lot of very nice comments in the trades. Everyone wants to talk to you."

Penny stood there with her mouth hanging open.


	37. Chapter 36

**A/N Hi all, this was supposed to wait until Monday, but I thought I would get it out tonight, so you didn't have to wait for the full two weeks. Of course this means that the next chapter won't be out for 10 days. It was going to be published on the same day as before, it's just this is out early. I should be able to get back to weekly publishing after that.**

 **Chapter 36**

 **Apt 4A 6 PM Thursday September 27th 2012**

Penny managed to get over to 4A by six, and laid out the plates, cups and silverware on the island. While waiting for everyone to arrive, she leaned over the counter, chin in her hand, thinking about her day.

After the surprising start, Barb continued to be complimentary about her appearance on the show, and how a wonderful an appearance like this could help her career. Just look at how people were calling for her, Barb had said. She also told Penny she had been sending all requests to William Morris, as that was her agency now. This reminded Penny why she had asked for this meeting. She asked Barb if she was happy with the terms of the changeover, with Penny now being represented by William Morris. Did she feel that she had been treated fairly.

Barb told Penny, that yes, she had been more than happy with the terms of her leaving. She explained that they had given her one percent more than usual. She also understood the limitations of her agency, especially with Penny in New York. Barb wished Penny well, and asked her to just stop in and say hi, whenever she could, as she still wanted to maintain the friendship. Penny promised she would, they hugged, and Penny left.

Penny held off on calling Jeanie and Kelli until she had gotten home. Kelli was excited for Penny, and how it could help the show. Penny asked how, and Kelli explained that it could bring in new viewers who now wanted to see Penny.

Jeanie was also excited for Penny, but her interest was more on how this would help Penny in the long run. Penny also talked to Jeanie about her meeting with Barb, telling her she was grateful that William Morris treated Barb fairly. Her reverie was broken by Sheldon and Amy coming through the door. They seemed to have had a disagreement.

"I'm telling you Amy, you're wrong," said Sheldon.

"If you won't even consider it, how can I be wrong?" asked Amy. "You have to weigh all the variables."

"I've got to go with Amy on this," said Penny.

Sheldon turned toward Penny, "How can you say that, you don't even know what we're discussing."

"Ok, fine," said Penny, "tell me what you two are fighting about."

"We are not fighting," said Sheldon. "it's simply a disagree…"

"Come on Sheldon, get on with it."

Sheldon glared at Penny, and said, "Fine, I told Amy that I think…"

"Nope, gotta go with Amy on this one," said Penny. Amy looked at Sheldon with a smirk.

"You didn't even hear what we are arguing about."

"Doesn't matter," said Penny, "Amy's right, you're wrong. Amy, what's going on?"

"I simply suggested that they put a table up by the window," said Amy. "It would be handy when everybody comes over."

"That's a great idea," said Penny. "Instead of sitting on the floor, or on the end tables, with no place to put our food down, we could all sit at a table."

"That's what I told him," said Amy, "but, he wouldn't listen. Just went on and on about moving everything, and having to find a table. He told me it was just a bad idea."

"It is," said Sheldon, "and besides, we have no need for a table that we would only use a couple of times a week, sometimes even less, now that Penny isn't here constantly."

"I suppose you're right," said Penny, "no use getting one." Penny winked at Amy, who nodded with a grin.

Just then, Penny's phone beeped. Looking at it she said, "Leonard's here, I'm going to run down and help him bring up the food." Penny walked to the door and left.

Fifteen minutes later, Leonard and Penny came through the door with all the food, followed by Bernadette, Howard, and Raj. They had arrived just as Leonard was locking his car, and had walked up with them.

The food was placed on the island and Penny called everyone to get their food and drinks. All of them came over, got their food and took it to their seats. Before they started eating, Penny announced, "Ok, no talk about me or the show, until after we eat."

Amy looked disappointed, but during dinner everyone was talking about their days, and their work. After dinner was finished, the dishes washed and the extra food put away, Penny sat in Leonard's chair, waiting for everyone to ask.

Amy was first, telling Penny she was really funny on Craig Ferguson's show. Bernadette and Howard were both nodding.

Penny was smiling and said, "Yeah, that went really well. As a matter of fact, I have some good news about it."

Everyone turned to her, as she continued, "For everyone, except Leonard, who I've already told, I need to tell you I've changed my agent, and I went to see my old agent today. She was telling me there were a lot of calls, asking for me, because of my appearance on Ferguson. Since she is known as my agent, she was getting all the calls and was having to tell everyone who called to call my new agent, William Morris in New York."

"Jeanie called me and explained to me how this could help me, with my career. Kelli, one of our producers, said she's gotten quite a few calls asking for me, and she said it was great for our show, because every time someone talks to me, the show is mentioned. I'm glad you liked it, because a lot of people seem to have liked it, especially those in the business. I'll have to wait and see what it all means until I get back to New York."

She then told them the whole story about changing her agent, as they listened. Bernadette asked if she was happy with her new agent, and Penny said she was, so far. She was really happy with the agency as they could find things here, and when she was in New York, they could find other work beside television.

Finally, Penny looked at Amy and Bernadette with suspicion, "Leonard told me you weren't going to watch last weeks show?"

Amy and Bernadette both started to stutter, until Penny laughed, "He also told me you recorded it, and would watch it latter, and you did that so you could be here tonight. So you're forgiven."

Bernadette asked what it felt like working on the show. Penny hesitated, then decided to avoid the problems she'd been having and concentrated on the fun she was having, the jokes on the set. She told some stories about flubs each of the actors had made, which had everyone laughing, even Sheldon in one case.

Finally it was time for the show. Leonard changed the channel to CBS and everyone became quiet as the opening notes of the theme song came on.

 **Apt 4A 8:32 PM Thursday September 27th 2012**

"Well," said Penny as the credits ran, "whadda think?"

Amy was enthusiastic, "Penny, you were wonderful. You sound as if you've taken a course of sarcasm from Leonard, and those expressions, even without words, were hilarious."

Bernadette agreed, "Amy nailed it. You were really funny. I didn't like that one guy, 'Hunk' I think, but the rest were pretty good."

Raj piped up, "I don't know, that one guy was decent, the guy that plays Captain Avery, the other guy, not so much. The other woman, Janet?…"

"Jeanie," said Penny stiffly.

"Jeanie, OK, she does a great job of setting you up. You do so well, your expressions are great, and your sarcasm is funny. But, overall, I'm not sure about the overall show, it's kinda meh."

"What do you mean?" asked Penny.

"I'm a lonely guy, so I watch a lot of movies and television and while you did well, it just doesn't excite me. If your show had Sandy B as a character, there'd be something to get excited about. But then, few women can compete with her, so don't feel bad."

Penny shook her head and looked at Sheldon.

"What?" he said.

"How did you like it Sheldon?" asked Penny.

"Well," he started, "I had a hard time getting past seeing Penny."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you, Penny, on the show," said Sheldon. "I've never really known someone who has been on TV or in a movie before. As I really don't know what the other people are like, I see them as their characters. With you, I saw Penny, not your character, now your character was a lot like you, so I'm not sure it matters."

"Penny," said Howard, "I think what everyone is trying to say," he looked at Raj and Sheldon, "is while some of us don't like parts of it, you are really great in it, and we all are very proud of you. You did great."

Penny looked around and everyone, even Sheldon, was nodding and smiling at Howard's comment.

Penny choked up, she had heard Howard sound so sincere only once before, "That was really lovely Howard, thank you. Almost as nice as your apology to Bernadette last year."

Howard smiled and nodded at Penny.

"Well," said Penny looking around. "I guess I don't expect everyone to like the show. But, if you are all happy with my performance, and are proud of me, I can't really ask for much more, Thank you all."

"We really do think you are doing a great job," said Bernadette.

"Thanks sweetie," said Penny, "again, thank you all. Now, who want's some more wine?"

Both of the other women jumped up, going to the island with Penny. The guys started arguing about whether or not to get the box set of the three "Dark Knight" movies, scheduled to be released in November.

 **Apt 4B 11:45 PM Thursday September 27th 2012**

Leonard and Penny had finished getting ready for bed. Penny was sliding into the bed next to Leonard when he asked, "Did it bother you that Raj didn't like the show?"

"Not really," said Penny, "he doesn't like it," she shrugged, "he doesn't like it. Not everyone will like it. That's why so many shows get cancelled, just not enough people are watching."

"Now, everyone except for Sheldon said good things about me. But I think I understand his point. He takes everything so literally, that I can understand his seeing me, and not the character. He said something similar to me when I did the commercial. They all seemed sincere about being proud of me, and I'm happy about that. According to Kelli and Barb, the people in the industry say I'm doing good."

"Well, I'm proud of you," said Leonard. "And if the people in the business think you're doing well…"

"Yeah, but, except for our show, they don't know the trouble I've been having getting to that point."

"That's what you keep saying," said Leonard, "but, aren't you learning as you go? Don't your bosses and other actors say they expected you to struggle, that you are coming along and it's just going to take time to get it? As long as the finished product is good, and they know you are trying to work through your problems, it doesn't really matter how you get there, right?"

"It's not that simple Leonard," said Penny, "if I keep doing things wrong, they are going to have to start keeping the actors and crew later. The writers have to be there also. If they run up too many hours, they have to start paying overtime, and that costs money. So far, it hasn't been bad, but if it gets bad, at some point, they may decide I'm just not worth it."

"Look," said Leonard. "I was there when Kelli was telling you how good of a job you did, how she understood why you were struggling. So I don't think there is a problem."

Penny looked lovingly at Leonard, "No, you wouldn't. And for that I thank you." She leaned in and kissed him softly. Their lips stayed together, and the kiss became more urgent. As they desperately took off what few of their clothes were still on, Penny said, "Let's make sure Sheldon complains about his headsets not working."

 **Apt 4B 10:00 AM Friday September 29th 2012**

Penny was sitting at her table, going through her email when her phone rang, picking it up she said, "Hello."

"Hi Penny," said Kelli, "How are you doing?"

"Hi Kelli," said Penny, "I'm fine…is everything OK?"

"As far as I know, yes, why?"

"You don't usually call me unless there is something up," said Penny. "Add to that, the fact that you are calling cross country, just to talk to me, makes me wonder if there is a problem."

"True," said Kelli, "but there really isn't a problem, and I have some news for you. Another batch of reviews was put up last night and this morning, and they are all very positive for you."

"That's good, right?" asked Penny excitedly.

"Yes, it is."

"How's the ratings?"

"So, so," said Kelli. "While almost all the critics like you, I'm afraid they don't like the show quite as much."

"That doesn't sound good," said Penny. "My friends kinda like it, but they didn't sound all that excited. One says it's meh. They all do like me and my character. Although one has a hard time separating me from the character, because he says he knows me."

"Quite a few reviewers agree with your friends," said Kelli. "A lot of them feel 'meh' about the show, but they like you. The good part about the ratings is that while they are so so, they are still better than average. So, while we may not have a giant hit on our hands, we do have something that might go along for a while, if the ratings stay about where they are."

"Well then, let's hope they stay where they are, or get better,*" said Penny. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," said Kelli, "Jim and I want to talk to you when you get back.

"And this is where you tell me about the problem I'm having, right?"

Kelli chuckled, "Nothing really bad, so don't worry, but we really need to show you, rather than tell you."

Penny was a bit concerned, but didn't show it, "Ok, well, I'll see you Wednesday. Is after the table read good?"

"Yes," said Kelli, "that will be perfect. See you then Penny."

"See you then, Kelli. Bye."

"Bye Penny."

Penny disconnected and put her phone down. She was curious. _Oh well, she said it wasn't serious, so I guess I don't have to worry. Now, where should I go for lunch? I got it. Maybe Bernadette or Amy, or both, can join me._ Penny headed off to get dressed, to call Bernadette and Amy, and then to go to lunch

 **Alexander's Steakhouse** **8:00 PM Friday September 29th 2012**

Leonard and Penny were having a quiet dinner at a newly opened steakhouse. They had walked as it was only three blocks from the apartment on Los Robles.

Penny was telling him about her day, the call from Kelli, and how she had asked Bernadette and Amy to go to lunch, but both of them were busy. So she went to The Cheesecake Factory.

She had seen Cheryl, and talked to a couple of other waitresses she either knew or remembered her. Her old boss came over and with him and the waitresses, she talked about her show, and a couple of them asked for her autograph and asked what it was like working on a TV show.

Leonard told Penny about how he was having trouble with his experiment. He knew Penny couldn't follow the problems he was having, so he kept it as general as he could. Penny, while she didn't really know what Leonard was telling her, expressed sympathy and Leonard was grateful for that.

Penny explained that instead of going out this time, Amy and Bernadette were coming over on Saturday night, and Leonard would have to find something else to do.

After they finished dinner, they headed home to 4B, watched a little television and then went to bed. As they were preparing for bed, Leonard was telling Penny about a conversation with Sheldon, who was complaining about the noise last night. Penny just laughed and as she was getting into bed, pulled Leonard to her, and whispered, "Sheldon hasn't heard nothing yet."


	38. Chapter 37

**A/N Well, here's the next chapter. I have another week of my show, but I want to get another chapter out next Monday, but if not, it won't be any later than than two days later. I'll be traveling in a couple of weeks, but interestingly, I usually have more time to write, so hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with weekly publishing.**

 **Chapter 37**

 **Apt 4B 9 AM Saturday September 27th 2012**

For once, it was Penny sitting at the table, drinking her coffee from her travel mug, waiting for Leonard. Penny had gotten up when the alarm went off, while Leonard rolled over.

Penny had turned on the coffee, gotten her shower, and after drying off, shook Leonard to get him up, before getting dressed herself. Leonard finally drug himself out of the bed, while Penny got her coffee and waited.

She was helped in beating Leonard to the table, by only putting on some light makeup. A couple of strokes of mascara and a bit of blush, and she was ready. They would be spending the day outside, at the Altadena Farmers Market, and she didn't feel the need for a lot of makeup.

Leonard was finally ready to leave, he filled his travel mug, while Penny refilled hers, they turned off the coffee pot and then left, walking out to Leonard's car, *a half hour later than Leonard planned.

Penny was looking at Leonard, smirking, and said, "Well, we're only a half hour late. Thanks to you, for a change."

"Me?" said Leonard, sounded offended, "You're the one that kept us up late."

Penny was still smirking, "I seem to remember doing all the work the second time, so don't blame me."

"I tried to roll over, after the first time, but you wouldn't let me," said Leonard.

Penny laughed, "Yeah, like I had to force you to turn around and start again. You were obviously quite ready for a second go around."

"Yeah, OK," said Leonard, "so I was ready. So were you, it just wasn't as obvious, until you climbed on top of me."

Penny was still laughing, "Let's just say neither of us objected to the second time."

Leonard finally smiled, "That sounds about right. Now let me drive in peace, we're almost there."

 **Altadena Farmers Market 11 AM Saturday September 27th 2012**

They had been at the market for a couple of hours now. They had been looking at some artwork and antiques, which seemed to be quite plentiful for a farmers market. Beside those items, there were other crafts, and the usual fruits and vegetables for sale. There were also food booths, and they had both gotten a hot dog, fries and a drink and had just finished eating.

Penny had thought about buying a couple of the painted pictures, and was explaining to Leonard where she thought they should go. They were holding hands, while their other hands held their drinks. They had only gotten fifty or so feet from where they had been sitting when three young teen girls, ran up to Penny.

"Excuse me," said one of them, "aren't you Penelope Jensen, from 'Major's Tales'?"

Penny smiled at them, "Yes, I am."

"Oh, miss Jensen," said another, "we watched both of the shows so far, we," she said pointing to the other two girls, "think that you're just great in the show."

The third girl produced a piece of paper and a pen. Holding it out, she said, "Could I get your autograph?"

Penny looked surprised, but nodded. She handed Leonard her drink, then took the pen and paper and signed her name, being careful to remember to write Penelope Jensen. The other two girls also wanted autographs, so Penny had to wait for them to get a piece of paper from the first girl.

While that was going on, several other people came up. Leonard, who had been standing next to Penny, got bumped away from her. So he took a couple of steps back, watching intently as Penny signed several more autographs, then joked and talked with everyone.

She had signed about 10 autographs, and had talked to them for a half an hour, and a couple even took pictures with Penny, when the final two walked away. Penny looked around and finally saw Leonard standing off to the side. Penny looked mortified and told Leonard she wanted to go home. Leonard handed Penny her drink and she took his hand as they walked back to Leonard's car.

They got in the car and as they left Penny finally spoke, "I'm so sorry Leonard, why did you move away?"

"I kinda got pushed off to the side by your fans."

Penny now looked like she was going to cry, "I didn't realize you got pushed away. Why didn't you say something?"

"Those were your fans Penny," said Leonard, "I didn't want you to not sign for them. You're a star now, and that's going to be part of your life."

"But, you're part of my life, a much bigger part," said Penny. "Even if I become a huge star and win Oscars, I'll always need you by my side. So, if it happens again, don't let them push you out of the way, make sure you stay close to me."

Leonard looked over and grinned, "It's really fine Penny."

"How can it be fine," said Penny, "I was out with you and you got pushed away. That is not good."

"Penny," said Leonard, "it's something I've been working on since we were in New York."

"Since New York?" said Penny. "How could you have started in New York?"

"I talked to Dave's wife, Pam," said Leonard. "During the presentations and press events, all the actors were talking to the press or other people or up on stage, while Pam and I were off by ourselves. I guess she could tell it was bothering me, so she started talking about how it happens with her and Dave, and she gave me some tips to deal with it."

"But, you shouldn't have to deal with it," said Penny. "I shouldn't ignore you."

"Penny," said Leonard, "it's fine. After talking to Pam, I understand you will get stopped and asked questions or someone may want to take a picture, or have you sign an autograph. So, yeah, it's going to happen. I had your cup, but Pam said if we are in an airport, that I should carry both bags or have them on a cart."

"Why?"

"Simple," said Leonard, "if you are carrying a bag and someone asks for your autograph, you have to stop and put your bag down, to sign. This gives other people a chance to come over, and you end up spending a lot of time either signing or trying to get away.

If I'm carrying your bags, your hands are free and you can sign while you are walking. This gets you out of the airport quicker. Dave and her make sure their bags are light, Pam carries them both, and Dave walks and signs. As a result, it means people have less of a chance to bog them down."

Penny was quiet, she looked like she was thinking about it.

"There were a few other things," said Leonard. "Like, she said make sure I have my phone. That way, while you're busy with the fans, I can be checking email, or texting, or even playing some game. Or, if were out at dinner, and someone comes up, it's proper to explain to them that we are eating and discussing something, so could they please not bother us right now?"

"Hmmmmm, it looks like there are rules for significant others that I didn't know about," said Penny.

"There are," said Leonard, "Pam and I have each others emails and phone numbers. If I have a question, she said to send an email, text her, or, if it's important, give her a call. I'm fine with it Penny, really."

"Do me a favor then," said Penny. "If you get pushed or shoved, say something. I won't put up with rudeness to you. If I've been involved for over a half hour, tell me, so we can get going. They may be my fans, but I refuse to have them dictate how I live."

"I'll do that, if it's what you want, although it may depend on where you are and what you're doing."

"You may be right," said Penny. "I may have to think about this a bit more. But, for now, I want you to know I need you by my side, no matter how big I get."

Leonard smiled. While he appreciated her sentiment, he could see Penny was trying to learn how to handle some of the unexpected situations, that came with being a star. And, he swore he would do his best to help her.

 **Apt 4B, 9 PM Saturday September 27th 2012**

Amy and Bernadette had been over for about an hour. There was no movie planned for tonight, but the other two women were curious about how Penny's life was going in New York.

They expected to hear glamorous stories of her life, and were disappointed to learn she spent most of her time off work, studying her script and lines. How she usually got off of work around four, and by the time she got home, she would cook dinner, then study her lines, blocking and notes, watch some TV, and then call or Skype Leonard for thirty minutes or so, before getting ready for bed.

Amy and Bernadette were shocked to find out that the other actors did more or less the same thing. They both mentioned Wednesday's, as she said she was generally off by noon or one PM. But she explained that lately, on Wednesday, she had been doing interviews or publicity, and so wasn't really off in the afternoon.

She did, however, tell them about how she went out dancing one Saturday, and how they weren't going to let her in, until one of the bouncers recognized her from her show. She also told them she was meeting with her assigned west coast agent from William Morris, on Monday. And, she was going to meet with the show liaison for the show, here in California.

Amy suggested that they go out one night with Penny and try to get into the more exclusive dance clubs in LA, using Penny's fame to get in. Penny told them it wasn't worth it. How guys just kept hitting on her, or groping her on the dance floor, and after a while, she decided to just leave, rather than put up with it anymore.

Amy told Penny about her and Sheldon's fight over Wil Wheaton. How Sheldon had supported Wil, and not her, when they were filming _Fun With Flags,_ and how they finally worked that out. Although she was laughing when she told the part of Sheldon getting drunk, and throwing up on Wil Wheaton's bushes.

Penny was shocked that Sheldon had gotten drunk, and wondered how. Amy and Bernadette explained that Sheldon had run into Raj and Howard and had taken him to the Cheesecake Factory and, as a joke, suggested a Long Island Ice tea. Sheldon, thinking it was iced tea, drank three of them.

Bernadette talked about how they had been basically living at Howard's mother's house, and spending very little time at their apartment. Bernadette then told a story about how she almost got Howard to move out of his mother's house, and into the apartment. She however had caved when Howard told a sad story about how he was always doing magic shows for his mother, because she was lonely.

Bernadette was watching how much Penny drank, and while she thought it a bit heavy, realized it was less than last time, so although she did ask about Penny's drinking, she didn't push it when Penny claimed it wasn't as bad as it has been.

Amy and Bernadette talked about their new projects at work, and by the time they finished with both of their stories, it was approaching eleven PM, so they all started cleaning up. When they were finished, the women went to 4A, in Amy's case to say goodnight to Sheldon, and in Bernadette and Penny's case, to get their guy.

While everyone was there, Penny reminded them of having dinner together on Monday. Everyone said good night and left, with Leonard and Penny going back to 4B. There, they headed for the bedroom, thinking of ways to disturb Sheldon.

 **Apt 4B, 8 AM Monday September 29th 2012**

Penny was still in bed, when Leonard came back into the bedroom. He leaned over and kissed her, and she reached out, put her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. After several seconds Leonard broke the kiss and straightened up. Penny opened her eyes, Leonard was in his hoody and coat with light brown pants.

She smiled at him, "Where are you going?"

Leonard smiled back, "First to go get Sheldon, then to work. And you better get going yourself, you have that 10:30 meeting with your new agent."

"Yeah, I know," said Penny, "I'm getting up."

"And I'm leaving," said Leonard, bending down to give her a quick kiss. She playfully slapped his arm as he turned to go.

After Leonard left, Penny got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. She drank her coffee while she checked her email and messages, then took a shower. While it was her first meeting with the agent, she was told it was informal.

Looking at her clothes, she decided on a hot pink shirt, with a red, swirling design and jeans with black flats. After getting dressed, she applied her make-up. She filled her travel mug with coffee, turned off the coffee maker and walked down to her car.

It was normally a 40 minute drive to Beverly Hills, where the William Morris agency was, but Penny left at 9:15, to give her some extra time, in case the morning rush hour traffic hadn't completely gone away.

William Morris had three buildings in the Wilshire-Rodeo Drive area, and Penny found the one where her agent was located. She asked at the front desk and was directed to the fifth floor, and another receptionist there asked her why she was there. She gave the receptionist her agent's name, she waited while the receptionist called him. She sat down and waited un til she was approached by a middle-aged male, who introduced himself as Neil Parker, and asked Penny to come back to his office.

Penny had steeled herself to ask for another agent if she wasn't happy with the one that had been assigned to her. Her meeting was scheduled for an hour, but her and Neil talked for an hour and a half, with Neil then asking her to lunch to continue the discussion. Neil reminded Penny of her father, tall, no-nonsense, but charming.

After returning from lunch, Penny gave Neil a hug and told him she was very happy that he would be working with her. He also recommended a publicist for her and promised to set up a meeting with him, the next time she was in LA.

Penny left Neil, and drove to Warner Brothers, to meet with the show liaison, Gail. They talked for over an hour, mostly about how well she did on "The Late, Late, Show". Gail asked when Penny would be back, so she could set up an appearance on "The Tonight Show". Although shocked, Penny told her she would be back in two weeks, and with that, the meeting was over.

Penny drove home, getting there at about three. She decided to take a nap, so she kicked off her shoes, laid down on the couch and was asleep 15 minutes later.

 **Apt 4B, 4 PM Monday September 29th 2012**

Penny felt lips on her lips and opened her eyes. She was looking at Leonard. She quickly looked at the clock, thinking it was five, but it turned out to be four fifteen.

"What are you doing home so early?" asked Penny.

"You're leaving tomorrow, so I took off early," said Leonard. "Come on, tell me about your day."

Penny got up, while Leonard poured a couple of glasses of wine. They sat at the couch, and Penny told him of her agent here in LA and how Gail was going to set up Penny going on Jay Leno's show. Leonard told her he had made some progress on his idea.

It was now just after six, and Leonard left, going to get some Indian food. Penny went over to 4A to get everything set up. By 6:30, the rest of the group had arrived and Leonard had returned. For some reason, Leonard and Penny were on the couch tonight, not their usual chairs.

Everyone made small talk, asked Penny about her upcoming week, and talked about their own weeks. Everyone had finished eating but clean up hadn't started. There were containers of food scattered around the coffee table.

Penny was snuggled under Leonard's arm. They were turned toward Amy, who was next to Sheldon, and talking with her, when Bernadette snapped a picture with her phone. They looked surprised, but Leonard asked Bernadette to take another and send him the pictures.

Shortly after the picture, everyone started cleaning up. When that was finished everyone said their goodbyes to Penny, and then her and Leonard went back across the hall. Leonard helped Penny finish packing, then they prepared for bed.

Penny hadn't seen Sheldon since the quick visit on Saturday night, but as they were getting into bed, Penny said, "Let's make sure he has something to complain about to you tomorrow," as she leaned over to kiss him.

After finishing their love making, they cleaned up, and got back into bed. They were holding on to each other, knowing Penny would be going back to New York in the morning.


	39. Chapter 38

**A/N Hey everyone. My show is over, however, I've managed to injure myself. I tripped down some stairs today, at home, and my elbow hurts, badly. I was trying to eat some cereal tonight, and I couldn't raise the spoon up to my mouth, I had to eat left handed. I tried typing tonight, and it didn't go well. If I can't get a chapter written in the coming week, I may not publish next Monday. I'll just have to see how it goes, and how well I can type one handed. Back to hunt and pecking. This chapter was done and all I had to do was this A/N one handed. Thanks to my primary reader TBBT78, who is continuing to read through some serious issues, and my copy editor bfm10, who is checking through a very busy time. Many, many thanks to them both. I also want to thank all those who are reading, and especially those who are writing reviews, thank you all so much.**

 **Chapter 38**

 **Caltech Cafeteria, 12:15 Tuesday October 2nd 2012**

Leonard was yawning as he looked around the cafeteria, trying to find Sheldon, Raj, or Howard. He found Sheldon at a table and headed in that direction. He said hello to Sheldon and put his tray on the table. As he was sitting down, he yawned again.

"It's your own fault, Leonard," said Sheldon. "You stayed up late, then had to get up early. No wonder you're yawning. If you would get to bed earlier, like I do, you wouldn't be so tired."

"Getting to bed late wasn't the problem," said Leonard, "it was getting up early to take Penny to the airport. Besides, weren't you, on the ride to work today, complaining about being up late?"

"No, Leonard," said Sheldon, "you need to pay better attention. I was in bed at my usual time, it was you and Penny who woke me up with her vocalization of your coitus. All last week your coitus kept waking me up, I need a better grade of noise cancelling headsets."

Leonard was smirking at Sheldon, "Sorry Sheldon, she's gone for two weeks, so when she come's home we do what we can to get enough sex in to last for the next two weeks."

Sheldon shook his head, "It doesn't work like that, you can't save up sex like a savings account. At least you'll be alone for the next two weeks and go back to quiet self-abuse."

"Who's going to self-abuse themselves, because their alone?" said Alex walking up.

"Leonard," said Sheldon.

"Dr Hofstadter," said Alex, "just because you're alone isn't a reason to abuse yourself…oh…ahhhh…I…uh…" her voice trailed off, and she looked away from Leonard as she realized what Sheldon meant.

"Sheldon," Leonard hissed.

"I sense I crossed a line," said Sheldon.

"Yes, you did," said Leonard, sounding frustrated, "that's not something we speak of in public."

"Well then," said Sheldon, "I'll be leaving, I have a meeting coming up anyway." Sheldon rose, and picking up his tray, walked away from the table.

They watched Sheldon walk away, then Alex said, "It's Ok, Dr Hofst…"

"Alex, it's Leonard," said Leonard, "I'm not one to require doctor in a casual setting. I mean, our cat is referred to as Dr Boots Hofstadter, so how serious can I take it."

"Ok, Leonard," said Alex, "I was just going to tell you, it's nothing to be embarrassed about." Her voice became seductive, "You do know women use self-abuse also, right." She smiled sweetly at Leonard.

Leonard was getting embarrassed, much as he had when he found Penny's vibrator, when they were cleaning her closet out. With a red face he answered, "Yes, I know, but it's still something I would rather not talk about."

"Why?" asked Alex, "I haven't had a boyfriend in several years, and while I prefer a real man, I…"

"Yes Alex, I get it. I understand it's normal, but I'm not comfortable talking about it with you. Now can we move on to something else?"

"Ok," said Alex, shrugging, "I tried to find that seminar on Wednesday morning, but I lost my way, trying to find the place. Perhaps you could take me and show me where it is?"

Leonard thought for a minute, "I have a meeting tomorrow, so I can't do it then. How about next week, I'll stop by Sheldon's around 9:30, so we can get there by ten."

Alex smiled and started twirling her hair, "That sound's great Leonard. I'll look forward to it."

 **Apartment 601, 8:15 PM Tuesday October 2nd 2012**

Jeanie heard a knock on the door. Getting up, she walked over to it and looking through the peephole, she let out a little shriek, and quickly opened the door. Penny was smiling and engulfed Jeanie in hug, as Jeanie said, "Welcome back." After a few seconds, Jeanie broke the hug, and invited Penny in, telling her to sit at the table. Penny pulled her luggage over to the table and sat down.

Jeanie went, opened a bottle of wine, poured two glasses, and took them both to the table. Jeanie asked her about being on "The Late, Late, Show".

"Did you see it?" asked Penny. "I was so nervous, but I guess it went OK."

"OK?" said Jeanie, "yes I saw it, and you were amazing on there, you're getting so much attention in the trades. Jim and Kelli have been getting phone calls, several people I'm friends with in the trades have called me to ask about you. I would say you were outstanding. Tell me all about it. When you got there, how it was, what he said to you, all of it."

Penny began telling Jeanie all about it. She began with getting there, Craig coming by before the show, getting ready for the show, the show itself, and Craig coming back to her dressing room after the show.

She told Jeanie about how nice Craig had been, not just to her, but to Leonard also. She also told Jeanie about the two women who were going to be her hair and makeup people in California. And then the surprise at finding out how it went, and all the people who were trying to call her.

After a refill of their glasses, Penny then described the rest of her week. Her experience at the market, with the fans, pictures and autographs. How her friends like the show, and her meetings with her west coast agent and how they were going to try and get her on Leno when she went back in two weeks.

Jeanie told Penny she had something for her, and pulled out the script for the table read in the morning. "Let me tell you something, I didn't read it."

"Why not?" asked Penny.

"I wanted to wait until you got here," said Jeanie, "so we could read it together."

"But what if I was late?"

"Then I was going to start reading at 9:30," said Jeanie, "before getting ready for bed. But, now that you're here, let's read it together, then talk about it. But, lets get a refill first." Penny was feeling tired, but agreed.

They both sat and read, and after they finished, they got another glass each and then started talking about the script. The first thing Penny mentioned was having several scenes alone with Brent for the first time. All their other scenes together had been with either Jeanie a couple of times, and more likely with Dave. They then compared on how they each had read, their intonations, and in Penny's case her facial expressions. They talked for over an hour, getting another couple of glasses of wine.

Finally, Penny asked Jeanie how her week went, and Jeanie started telling Penny about her three day trip home, where she ran into her high school boyfriend. They each got another glass of wine, while Jeanie told Penny how awkward it had been, because he wanted to get back together. Jeanie suspected it was because she was now a star, not because of his feelings for her.

By now, it was one AM and they both decided it was time to get to bed. Penny tried to stand up, and had to grab the table as she lost her balance. She managed not to fall, but was giggling, and so was Jeanie.

Then Jeanie tried to stand, and she fell over, landing on her butt. They both erupted into loud laughter, as Penny then lost her balance, also ending up on the floor. This brought even more laughter from both Penny and Jeanie as they sat on the floor of Jeanie's kitchen.

 **Apartment 601, 8:15 AM Wednesday October 3rd 2012**

Penny's alarm on her phone went off. Penny rolled over, grabbed her phone and turned it off. Her head hurt, her mouth was dry. _I must have really been drunk last night._

She opened her eyes, and was looking at a white ceiling. _Where am I,_ thought Penny. _My bedroom ceiling is pink, not white._ She tried to sit up, but the pain, in her head, made that a struggle, so she just fell back on the bed. A couple of minutes later, she tried again, and this time she did make it to a sitting position.

Opening her eyes, she was looking around when the door opened and Jeanie came in. She looked like she was hurting also, but she had brought Penny a couple of aspirin, along with a glass of water.

"Good morning," said Jeanie, with a smirk.

"Maybe for you," said Penny, popping both aspirins into her mouth and taking a long drink of water.

"It's not for me either," said Jeanie. "But, at least I've had my water and aspirin. We still have over an hour before we have to leave for the studio, so you might want to take your luggage back to your place and get a shower."

"You're right," said Penny, "I really should. Did you suggest me staying here last night?"

"Yes, I did," said Jeanie. "We both had trouble standing, so I thought instead of you trying to get home, it would be better if you stayed in my guest room. I've also got coffee ready, so, if you want a cup go ahead and take one. And bring your travel mug up and you can fill it before we leave."

Penny smiled at Jeanie, "Thanks, I'll do that." She managed to stand up, and, unsteadily, start the trip to her apartment.

 **Studio 44, 11:45 AM Wednesday October 3rd 2012**

Penny was at the craft services table, getting another cup of coffee, when Jeanie walked up, and also poured another cup of coffee.

"More aspirin?" asked Penny.

"More aspirin," confirmed Jeanie as she handed Penny a couple more tablets. They both took the aspirin and were standing there, both looking miserable, when Tina walked up. "Hi Jeanie, Penny. Kelli says her and Jim are ready anytime you are, Penny."

"Huh?"

"I said Kelli and Jim are ready anytime you are," said Tina. "Something about them wanting to talk to you?"

"Oh God," said Penny, "I forgot about that. You don't have to wait for me Jeanie, I don't know how long this is going to be."

"You sure?" said Jeanie, looking concerned.

"Yeah, Kelli told me it wasn't really anything bad, so I'm not worried."

"Ok," said Jeanie, "I'll see you back at the apartment." She turned, walking towards her dressing room and stopped. Turning around, she said to Penny. "Come on up around four, I want to take a nap."

Penny said, "Make it six, I want a nap also."

Penny turned and followed Tina to Jim and Kelli's office. Tina opened the door, told them Penny was here, and then left, in the direction of the writers.

"Come on in, Penny," said Jim, "have a seat. We need to get some things set up, give us a couple of minutes."

Penny watched as they brought over a monitor, and Jim connected it to his computer.

While he was doing that, Kelli got up from her desk and walked over to Penny, handing Penny several pieces of paper, "These are a few of the reviews from the second episode, I thought you might want them."

Penny looked at them quickly, "…new comedy star… absolutely the funniest person on the show… a bright new addition to the comedy world…" were some of the comments Penny read. She had to smile reading them.

Jim got up and walked over to Penny. She looked up and said, "It's not that bad, right? Kelli said it wasn't that bad."

Jim looked surprised, "Did you think we were going to yell at you?"

"No," said Penny, "Kelli said it wasn't bad so I wasn't worried."

Jim smiled, "Good, it really isn't anything bad, just think of it as another piece of your education."

"What?"

Kelli said, "You're playing a character, but think of yourself. You react to something the same way every time. If you changed that reaction, it wouldn't be you. For example, you've told us that when your boyfriend starts talking about his comic books or other science fiction things, you roll your eyes."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, what would happen if instead of rolling your eyes, you instead told him he was stupid?"

"I wouldn't do that," said Penny, "I would never call him stupid for his hobbies."

"Why not?"

"Because, that's who he is," said Penny. "He knows I roll my eyes because I don't understand his fascination with it, and because he knows it mostly bores me."

"But, the important thing," said Jim, "you do the same thing every time."

"OK, yeah," said Penny, "but what does this have to do with Jess?"

"Well, Kelli and I have been watching the first few episodes and the edits on the last couple and we've noticed you've changed your reactions on a few things. Three to be exact."

"What do you mean?" asked Penny.

"Here, let me show you," said Jim. He started a clip of Penny making a snarky comment about Jeanie's character, Ally's date. Jim said, "Now watch, as you say the line, you dismiss the guy with a wave of your hand."

"I see it," said Penny, "what about it?"

"That was from the first episode," said Jim, "Now here's another from the second."

Penny watched herself say a similar snarky line, and dismiss Ally with the same wave, raising her arm and hand, and throwing her hand in a downward direction.

She looked at Jim and he started another clip, and said, "This one is from the third episode."

Penny again watched herself do the same motion with her hand, again, talking to Jeanie.

"Now," said Jim, "This one is from the last episode we taped." He played the clip and it was Penny, making a similar comment, but this time, she was wagging her finger back and forth.

"What's the big deal?" asked Penny.

"Penny," said Kelli, "you established the character makes a dismissive wave, when you make a snarky comment. If you establish that, you can't do other things, willy nilly."

"What do you mean?"

"When you establish a saying, a movement, or anything else as a part of that character, you have to be consistent, you have to do the same thing every time."

"Wait," said Penny, looking worried, "You mean I have to remember everything I do with a character and do the same thing all the time?"

"Basically, yes," said Jim. "Unless the writers decide it needs to be changed and then they'll write an episode about it. It can be tough during a series, as there can be a week or two, between actions, or even a summer between actions."

"Now, here are a couple of others," said Jim, as he played some more clips for Penny.

"I'll never remember all of that," said Penny despondently after Jim was finished. "Hell, I didn't even know I was doing the hand wave. If I don't know I'm doing it, how the hell can I even realize I stopped doing it?"

"We'll help, Penny," said Kelli, "where we can. What we will ask of you, is to write down any physical movements you do, or write down if we tell you about a physical movement, and then just be aware of it."

"I can't even remember my blocking half the time," said Penny, sounding frustrated, "How the hell am I supposed to remember this?"

"I told you Penny," said Kelli gently, "we'll help. Were not going to jump on you if you mess up. All we're asking is that you try to be aware of it, and try to keep things consistent, OK?"

Penny was aware her headache may be making her grouchy, so she just nodded her head. _Maybe Jeanie can help me with this._ "I really should thank you for not yelling at me and trying to get it over nicely. So thank you, and I'm sorry to sound angry."

Jim said, "Actually, I think it's more you are frustrated with all of this. That you didn't realize how much work this was actually going to be."

Penny eyes flashed at Jim, then she looked down, "You may be…awwww hell you ARE right. When I got to LA, and even up to shooting the pilot, I had no idea how much actual work went into this, week to week. So thank you, for picking an inexperienced actress and trying to teach her what she doesn't know." Penny looked up smiling at Jim.

Kelli said, "That's what we want to hear. You're doing good Penny, but you do have a lot to learn, and we're willing to work with you until you get it. But, only if you are willing to work at it. So far, you are willing, and we thank you for that."

"So, remember," said Jim, "pay attention to physical movement, write it down and compare it to other lines and movements. If we tell you of a repeated physical motion, pay attention to that and write it down. If you see a spot in the script, write it down when you first get the script."

"And remember your lines," said Kelli, "and your blocking, and the direction you need to look, and …"

Penny laughed, "OK, OK, I get it, thanks to both of you."

"That's it Penny," said Jim, "We'll see you tomorrow at ten."

Penny stood up, "Bye, see you tomorrow." Penny walked to the door and left. She was going to her dressing room to pick up her bag, and start walking home.


	40. Chapter 39

**A/N Here's the next chapter. As you can see I did have problems typing, but I'm getting this out a whole one day early, wow, huh? Also, I'm in Virginia for a couple of weeks and this actually helped me. I'm on a bit of a vacation and my wife and her cousin (who were visiting) spend most of the day catching up on everything and anything since our last visit, and they leave me alone. However, as I said, I'm struggling with typing, so, at this point, it's mostly one handed. It kinda balances out, so, I'll be back to my once a week schedule for now.**

 **Chapter 39**

 **Apr 314, 2:00 PM Wednesday October 3rd 2012**

Penny had gotten home from the studio, and knowing she had two hours before she could go up and see Jeanie, she decided to lay down and take a nap of her own. She kicked off her shoes, laid on her bed and was asleep in minutes.

At four, Penny went up to Jeanie's apartment. Jeanie let her in and made tea for both of them. As they sat at the table with their tea, Penny explained what Jim and Kelli had told her about consistency, and asked about ways to keep everything straight. Jeanie explained in a bit more detail, about maintaining consistency, how to record it, how to ask the other actors about it, and gave Penny a few tips on how she could do that.

Penny had left around six PM and when she got home, made dinner, cleaned up, and started working on her lines. She was trying different vocalizations, different pauses, along with looking for things Jim, Kelli, and Jeanie had pointed out.

While going over her lines, she had several glasses of wine, and by the time Leonard called, she was feeling the wine, along with still being tired, despite the nap, from the flight back the day before.

After their greetings, she told him about her flight, and how her day at work had gone. She briefly told him about the talk she had had with Jim and Kelli, but didn't go into detail. She then asked about his work.

By the time Leonard had finished talking about getting all the data back from Geoff, and what he planned to do with the data, it was approaching ten. Between the wine and her being tired, she wasn't really in the mood for having Skype sex, explaining and apologizing to Leonard.

While Leonard had been a bit disappointed, he had been understanding, and they ended their call saying "I love you" to each other, and Penny promising to have their Skype sex the next night. After hanging up, Penny decided going to bed was what she needed more than anything. So, she turned off the lights, went to the bathroom and started her preparations for bed.

 **Studio 44, 11:00 AM Thursday October 4rd 2012**

Penny was doing a scene alone with Brent, the first one of the season, for her. Before the scene started, she felt uneasy, thinking she would be alone with him. Suddenly she laughed, when she realized there would be the director, the camera people, writers, producers, among others, making probably close to 40 people on the set with them.

Steve came over, and put them in their starting positions. He then had them slowly move through the scene, allowing them some time to write their blocking. Then they walked through the scene, following the directions on their scripts. After seeing how things went, Steve made a couple of minor changes for movement, and then had them go through it again. He told them he was going to move on, and he left to the next scene.

Brent came over to Penny, and asked, "You got everything written down?"

"Yes, I did," said Penny. She thought she would be polite and professional and added, "Thanks for asking, did you get it all?"

"Yeah, I did," said Brent, "see you in a couple of scenes," and he turned and left.

Penny was surprised at how Brent was acting, but didn't have time to think about it as she wanted to get her markers from her dressing room. She walked up the stairs to her dressing room, found her markers, and used the bathroom while she was there then left the dressing room and walked back down the stairs.

Penny walked over to the craft services table, to get some coffee. Brent was getting some coffee, and she noticed he wasn't adding anything. Penny asked, "You take it black also?"

"Yeah, most of the time," said Brent. "If I get a really strong…"

Tina came up and cut him off, "Sorry Brent," she said, "but I need Penny over at the women's apartment set."

"Why?" said Penny. "I don't have to be there until the scene after my next one."

"They made a couple of changes," said Tina, "they need you there now."

"Dammit, I wanted some coffee," said Penny, "let's go Tina."

Penny got through her short scene with Jeanie, then walked over to the guy's apartment. By the time she got there, everyone but Steve was there, he was talking to Jim and Kelli. Penny thought about trying to get that cup of coffee right now, while Steve was talking, when she felt someone tapping on her shoulder.

She turned and found herself looking at Brent, who was holding a cup of coffee. "Here," he said, "I just got this. You said you wanted one but were needed. Since we had the next scene, I thought I'd get one for you."

Penny was flabbergasted. He'd always been a jerk or creepy, and now here he was offering her a cup of coffee. It must have showed on her face as Brent grinned and said, "Yeah, I know, I can be, and have been, a jerk, so I get your surprise. But let me tell you, when it comes to acting, when it comes to production, I try to be completely professional."

Penny looked at him, took the offered cup, and said, "Thanks Brent. Yes, I'm surprised, sorry for being so shocked."

"It's ok," said Brent, "you aren't the first to be surprised." Just then Steve came walking up and said, "Let's get ready."

Penny and Brent put their cups down near the stands and Penny said, "OK, come on," and they walked to the guys apartment.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 9:00 AM Thursday October 4nd 2012**

Leonard had set up a couple of white boards in his "office." He had gotten the updated files from Geoff which were now being uploaded onto his computer. The calculations to determine the shape of each of the reflections were done by loading the individual calculations Geoff had done, into the shape calculations.

The results of Leonard's calculations had already been uploaded into the shape calculation and were already done and in his database.

Later, once the shape calculations, based on Geoff's results, were uploaded to the database, he would compare the shape of the reflection from his calculations, with the shape from the calculations based on Geoff's results.

Leonard knew he had 30 to 45 minutes before the calculation run would be finished and he could start comparing the shapes, so he decided to head to the cafeteria, to get a cup of coffee and a pastry or two.

 **Apr 601, 7 PM Thursday October 4th 2012**

Penny left her apartment, and walked up the stairs to the sixth floor. Knocking on Jeanie's door, she waited until Jeanie answered. Looking surprised, Jeanie said, "What's up Penny? I didn't expect to see you tonight."

"I have to talk to you," said Penny. "Something happened today, that is kind of throwing me."

"Well, come in," said Jeanie, "You want some wine?"

"Sure," said Penny.

Jeanie walked into her kitchen, grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard, a bottle of wine out of the fridge, filled the glasses halfway, and brought them to the table. Putting one glass in front of Penny, she sat down and said, "So what's up?"

Penny wasn't sure how to start, but decided to plunge in, "You know how I think Brent is a jerk?"

"Yeah," said Jeanie, "you're not the only one"

"Well," said Penny, "today I wanted to go get a cup of coffee, and I was called to do a scene. When we got to the next scene, he was waiting for me, with a cup of coffee."

"What?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "he was waiting for me in the guys apartment, with a cup of coffee. He was really nice about it. It really threw me."

"Did he say anything?"

"Told me he knew people thought he was a jerk," said Penny. "But, he did tell me that when it came to production, he was a professional."

"Has he been?"

"I don't know," said Penny, "That's what I wanted to ask you. This is the first time I've worked with him alone this year. You've had several scenes with just him, did you have any problems, with him?"

Jeanie thought back, "No," she said, "as far as I can remember, he has been professional about it. I mean, outside of doing the show, yeah, he's been creepy at times, even to me. Like putting his arm around you at Jake's."

"I know," said Penny. "But he hasn't bothered me in the last few weeks, and I can't fault him here on set, at least since we started rehearsals and shooting."

Jeanie looked thoughtful, "I don't know what to tell you. If he hasn't caused any trouble for you, I guess you just have to go with your feelings."

"That's just it," said Penny, "I don't know what to feel right now. I've been wary, but this new Brent doesn't give me any reason to be wary. I just don't know what to do."

"Are you thinking he's boyfriend material?" Said Jeanie teasingly.

"No, of course not," said Penny. "I have Leonard, and besides, just because he starts being nice, is no reason to like him, or forget his other behavior."

"Well, OK, then all I can tell you, is watch what he's doing, pay attention to his actions, and go with your feelings."

"I guess," said Penny, "Thanks Jeanie."

"I'm happy to help," said Jeanie. "You want some more wine?"

"No, I'm good," said Penny, "besides, I know I shouldn't, but I want to watch the show. Later, Leonard is going to call."

Jeanie leered at Penny, "Going to Skype tonight?"

Penny lightly blushed, grinned, and nodded.

"OK, go ahead," said Jeanie, "I'll see you in the morning."

Penny rose, gave Jeanie a hug and headed back to her apartment.

 **Apt 314, 12:15 AM Friday October 5th 2012**

 _Well,_ she thought smiling, _we just finished "Skyping", which was a bit more intense than just talking. And it was certainly worth the wait from the previous night._ She had just said her goodbyes to Leonard and was now laying on her bed, her heavy breathing having returned to normal.

Leonard had called at 11:30 PM, right after her show had finished on the west coast. Penny didn't want to talk about the show, as she ended up not watching it. He and Penny had talked quickly about each other's work for about twenty minutes, then Penny mentioned her interactions with Brent. Leonard seemed dismissive of Brent, but Penny smiled knowing he didn't want to waste any time. She told him to take his computer to his bedroom, while she did the same, so they could begin the physical part of their Skype.

 **Studio 44, 12:00 Noon Friday October 5th 2012**

Penny was coming off the guy's set, her scene with Brent was finished. Tina walked up to her, "Great scene Penelope."

"Thanks."

"Jim and Kelli want to see you," said Tina, "so when you get a chance, go on over to their office."

"Ok," said Penny. Tina walked away and Penny went to her dressing room. They had a run through scheduled for 2 PM, so she thought she would go to Jim and Kelli's office now. _I might as well go now, as I have some time. I wonder what the hell they want me to do now._

Penny locked her dressing room and walked down to the first floor. Arriving at their office, she knocked and was greeted with Kelli's voice yelling "Come on in."

Penny entered and Kelli continued on the phone, just pointed at chair. Penny sat down, and waited for Kelli to finish her call. After Kelli hung up, Penny spoke up, "Hi Kelli, you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," said Kelli, "I want to ask you something and tell you something."

"Before you do," said Penny, "I didn't hear how the ratings were last night."

"About the same," said Kelli, "they were down a bit, not really enough to mention. The demo was the same, viewers were down."

"Are we doing well enough?"

"Yes and no," said Kelli. "It would be much better if we had more viewers and a higher demo. But, we are above the network average, so we should be good for this year, unless we drop like a rock."

"OK, good to know," said Penny. "I didn't hear anything this morning when I came in, I thought maybe you didn't want to talk about it and I just wanted to know."

"Sooooo," said Kelli, "if you didn't hear about the ratings, you didn't see or hear about any reviews, right?"

"No, I didn't," said Penny. "Did the show get some more? Good I hope."

"Actually, we've gotten some average reviews," said Kelli. "None of the reviews are really terrible, but none of them are really great, well, except for one of the things associated with the show."

"What is it?"

"You."

"What?" said Penny sounding puzzled. "What do you mean me?"

"Some more reviews came out, one talked about what a treasure the show has in you," said Kelli. "How well you use sarcasm, how…"

"Wait a minute," said Penny, "the sarcasm is from the writers, I'm just saying the lines."

Kelli smiled, "Yes, that is how it usually works, the writers write the lines, but it's you, the actor that brings those lines alive. Although I'll tell you if you mention the writers on the show next week, they will love you."

"On what show, next week."

"That's what I want to ask you," said Kelli.

"What?"

"We've been asked to have someone appear on David Letterman," said Kelli. "He's on CBS, we're on CBS, so they want to do some cross promotion."

Penny inhaled sharply, "On Letterman? Why me? Why not Jeanie or Dave? They are the stars, I'm just a co-star."

"Well," said Kelli, "your appearance on Ferguson's show, was so great, everyone was talking about it. The honchos at CBS thought it would be a good idea to have you go on the show. Jim and I talked about it and we thought you would be great on there."

"But I'm not the star, it doesn't make sense?"

"Letterman can be difficult to keep up with," said Kelli. "He can throw questions at you pretty quickly, and get you confused. But, you did very well on Ferguson, and he can be worse than Letterman. Craig can throw questions at you, but sometimes those questions are off the wall. You handled it all really well, so we thought of you."

Penny was stunned, and didn't quite know what to say.

"Penny?"

"Sorry," said Penny, "I don't know. Craig was really nice to me, and he helped me with his questions. What happens if Letterman doesn't help me. I'll look like an idiot."

"Penny, Dave is a better interviewer than Craig. He won't make you look like an idiot. He may fire questions at you, but if he notices you are having trouble, he will help you out."

Penny was thinking about it. It took her a few minutes and then Kelli looked at her quizzically. She nodded, "Yes, of course I'll do it. I'm just kind of in shock you want me, what should I say?"

Kelli smiled, "We do expect you to talk about the show. We'll go over what you shouldn't say, and we'll be sending a clip of you and Jeanie over to them, the day of the show. You introduce it by explained the situation, then you show it."

"Ok, I think I can do that," said Penny.

"We know you can," said Kelli. "Then just try to keep up with Dave as he asks you questions, and remember to talk about the writers. Just to let you know, they tape it around 6, and since it's just a table read day, you should have plenty of time. We'll get more specifics Monday or Tuesday. Any questions?"

"Just one," said Penny timidly, "do you have copies of those reviews? Jeanie said I shouldn't look, but I'm curious."

Kelli smiled, "I'll send over a couple of them to your apartment later today and the link to the other one. Now, any questions on Letterman's show next week?"

"No,"

"Ok, that's all I had," said Kelli.

Penny asked, as she got up to leave, "Will you be there for the run this afternoon?"

"Yes, and Jim will be there also."

"Then I'll see you this afternoon, bye."

"Bye Penny," said Kelli, "see you this afternoon."

Penny got up from her chair, and left the office. She thought about going to her dressing room, but decided to stop by Jeanie's dressing room first, to tell her the news.


	41. Chapter 40

**A/N First off, for the guest reviewer who ask why my updates were not appearing on the main site, I don't know. I reached out to this site and asked, they haven't got back to me yet. I'll let you get to it, but please look at the A/N at the end.**

 **Chapter 40**

 **Apr 314, NY 2:00 PM Saturday October 6th 2012**

Penny put her phone down on the kitchen counter and started going through her cupboards and her pantry. She was looking for some food and realized there wasn't a lot of it in the apartment, so she decided to go to the store to get some meals, snacks, and some wine. She left the kitchen, and walked to her bedroom to get some shoes and a jacket.

She usually went with Jeanie on their way home from the studio, but they had gone out for dinner last night, and Jeanie wouldn't be home until the evening, having gone to see some friends of hers from her Broadway shows.

She was thinking about being on Letterman and some new interviews Kelli had referred to and laughed, _Here's the big star, with her glamorous lifestyle walking to the grocery store to buy her food._ She chuckled again as she went to put her shoes on.

 **Apt 4A, Pasadena 9:30 AM Saturday October 6th 2012**

Leonard was doing some work on his computer, and still working on his first cup of coffee, when there was a knock on the door. Getting up, he answered it and was surprised to find Howard there.

"Come in," said Leonard, closing the door after Howard entered. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the convention in Long Beach with Raj."

"I am," said Howard, "but, Raj got a call about someone being unable to use a telescope, and they wanted to know if he wanted to move up his observing time. He had to go in to prepare for his observing run tonight, so I'm here to offer you his ticket."

"I don't know," said Leonard. "I was planning on doing some work today, run and get some new shoes, and stop by Stuart's."

"You'd be going to a convention, why go to Stuart's?" said Howard. "David Goyer the writer and Christopher Nolan the producer of the new Superman film will be at a seminar."

"Who need's new shoes, you're right about Stuart's, and it's Saturday, so why should I work," said Leonard. "Let me get some different clothes on and we can go."

Leonard ran into his room and changed. After he finished, he thought he'd better call Penny to let her know he wouldn't be home for the day. He pulled out his phone and tapped Penny's number.

Penny's phone was vibrating and playing Leonard's ringtone, on her kitchen counter. Leonard listened as the phone rang, and rang, and rang, when it went to voicemail, he hung up. No use telling her, if she's busy already. He put his wallet into his back pocket, his phone in his other back pocket, walked out of his bedroom, then left with Howard.

 **Apr 314, NY 3:30 PM Saturday October 6th 2012**

Penny got out of the elevator holding three bags in each hand. She walked to her door and there was legal sized envelope at her door. She put down the three bags in her right hand, unlocked the door and entered her apartment.

She took the three bags she still held to the dining table and placed them on it, then she started looking around for her phone. She had tried to look something up at the store, and realized she didn't have it. She started looking in her bedroom, and not finding it, checked the bathroom. She found it in the kitchen, laying on the counter.

She placed her phone into her back pocket, without checking, and went back to the apartment door and grabbed the other three bags, and the envelope, closed the door and took the rest of the bags and the envelope to the table.

She took the frozen and cold items and put them in the freezer and refrigerator, then she placed the rest of the items in the pantry. She poured a glass of wine and sat down at the table. She opened the envelope and found a couple of magazines, and a sheet of paper.

Looking at the magazines, she found a post-it note on each, telling her to look at a specific page in each of them. Looking at the paper, there was a short note, and below the signature, was an online link. The note said:

 **Penny,**

 **Here are the two magazines I told you I'd get for you. Below, you should see an internet address, that will take you to an online article. Sorry I missed you, see you Monday.**

 **s/Kelli/s**

Penny placed the paper aside, she would go to the site after looking at the magazines. Picking up one of the magazines, she opened it to that page on the note, and started reading.

 **Long Beach Comic-con, 1:30 PM Saturday October 6th 2012**

Leonard and Howard had been walking around the exhibit floor, for several hours, looking for several older comics, but hadn't found anything that was in their price range.

Leonard had bought a couple of shirts, and Howard had found a couple more figurines, he was able to buy from the money Bernadette had given him. Now, they had left the exhibition floor and were walking to room S4, where the panel was to be held.

They got to the room, showed their passes and entered the room. The room was about half full already and there was still an hour to go. They found some seats, relatively near to the stage and then pulled out their phones. Neither of the them had a connection, so they put the phones away, and looked over their purchases.

A couple of minutes before the scheduled start, someone walked up to the mic on the podium where the moderator was going to be and announced they would be starting shortly. Leonard and Howard put their stuff away, and prepared for the program to begin.

 **454 West 58th, New York, 8:30 PM Saturday October 6th 2012**

Jeanie entered the apartment building, after getting back from dinner, having spent the day, with a few of her friends, from when she was on Broadway. She decided to stop and see Penny, so she got off the elevator on the third floor. Going to Penny's door she heard the television, and knocked.

She waited for almost a minute, and knocked again. She thought she could smell something burning. Jeanie ran up to her apartment, grabbed the emergency keys for Penny's apartment and went back down.

She unlocked the door, and the deadbolts, and entered the apartment. She could now definitely smell something burning, but didn't see Penny immediately. She walked into the kitchen and turned off the burner, and moved the pot with some, now burnt, mac and cheese in it, off of the hot burner.

Jeanie walked out to the living room and found Penny on the couch, staring at her phone. She was surprised by Penny's appearance. With her face and eyes both red, Jeanie could tell she had been crying, so she sat down next to her.

"Penny," said Jeanie, "What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

"Why doeshn't Leonard anshwer?" asked Penny.

"Answer what?"

"Hish phone," said Penny. "I've wash calling for over two hoursh and he'sh not anshwering…"

"Why are you calling him?"

"Caushe I'm a fack, I mean fuck, no a fake," said Penny. "EveryonetellingmehowgoodIam… all thoshe articlesh, online, itsh all bullshit. Becaushe I'm not good…you're the one thatsh good, not me."

"How much have you drank, Penny?" asked Jeanie.

"Almost two bottlesh," said Penny. "You want a glassh"

"No, no thank you," said Jeanie, "it's only 8:30."

"Well, if you're shad," said Penny, "and your boyfriend won't anshwer the phone, all you can do ish drink."

"How about we get you into bed," said Jeanie. "I'll come over around 9 tomorrow morning and we can talk about it." Jeanie decided to wait until tomorrow to ask Penny about the mac and cheese.

"Well, I'm glad shomewbody ish willing to talk to me," said Penny. "Obvioushly, my boyfriend doeshn't want to."

"I don't think so, Penny." said Jeanie, "Leonard loves you and he may just not be around his phone. Come on, let's get you to bed."

Jeanie helped Penny get to her bedroom and out of her clothes. She helped her into her pajamas, then got her into her bed. She said good night to Penny and Penny mumbled something Jeanie couldn't understand back. Jeanie shut off the light in the bedroom, turned off the lights in the kitchen. She then left Penny's, locking the deadbolts as she left.

When she got back to her apartment, she called Leonard, she had his number when Penny gave it to her the first time Penny had gone back to California. Jeanie's call went to voicemail and she left a message.

 **Long Beach Comic-con, 6:30 PM Saturday October 6th 2012**

Howard was driving out of the parking lot, looking to get on the 110. That took them from Long Beach to the southern part of Pasadena, three blocks from Los Robles. Leonard remembered his phone, and looking at it, he found eight calls, and eight voicemails, from Penny. He immediately called Penny, not bothering to hear the voicemails, but there was no answer. He didn't want to get worried just yet, but he thought he would wait until he was home, and by himself.

A half an hour later, Howard pulled up in front of Leonard's apartment building. Leonard got out, and thanked Howard for thinking of him for the extra ticket. He also told Howard he would see him on Monday, and to say hi to Bernadette. He closed the door, and walked to the building, and then up to his apartment.

He entered the apartment, put his keys in the bowl, and went to his room. He hadn't seen Sheldon, and really wasn't interested in finding him. He closed his bedroom door and touched Penny's number, then waited.

Again, there was no answer and the call went to her voicemail. He left a message asking Penny to call him when she got the message. Clearing out his voicemail, he saw one from a number he didn't recognize. He clicked on it and found it was from Jeanie.

He knew Penny had given Jeanie his number, in case Jeanie needed to contact Penny when she was in California, and couldn't get her on Penny's phone. A call from Jeanie worried him, so he hurriedly pressed the play on the message and heard:

" **Hi Leonard. This is Jeanie. Can you call me back when you get a chance? Need to talk to you about Penny."**

Leonard pushed on her number and waited. After two rings he heard Jeanie answer. "Hello?"

"Hi Jeanie," said Leonard, "this is Leonard. You called and wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes," said Jeanie, "I thought you should know. I went and saw some friends, and I stopped by Penny's when I got home and she was upset, drunk, had left a pot on the stove with some burning food. She was also saying something about not being able to get you to answer the phone."

"I was in a panel at a convention and our phones had no connection," said Leonard. "Besides, I didn't expect her to call today."

"That's fine," said Jeanie. "I figured it was something like that. I put her to bed and I'm going down there early tomorrow. I'll take her to brunch, and I'll talk to her. So don't try to call her in the morning. I'll tell her to call you tomorrow afternoon."

"Do you know what she was upset about?"

"How things are going on the show," said Jeanie.

"Is she doing badly?"

"No, she isn't," said Jeanie. "From an acting standpoint, she's doing great. She's getting great reviews, she's generating a lot of buzz in the industry, but she is struggling a bit with the mechanics of acting. Where and how to move, where to look, all of that."

"She's getting better," said Jeanie, "I've been working with her. I guess I'll have to try and drive it into her that she is doing fine. Try to get her to see that."

"Jeanie?"

"Yes, Leonard."

"Thank you." said Leonard. "I should be there helping her through this, but I'm really in the middle of things here at the university, and I want to thank you and tell you how much I appreciate you helping her with all this."

"You are quite welcome, Leonard." said Jeanie.

"Especially for someone who is just starting…"

"Leonard," said Jeanie, "I'm doing it because I like her and she is my friend. That it helps us, and the show, is just a bonus. I'll try and get her straightened out."

"Thanks, Jeanie," said Leonard, "I'll wait for her call tomorrow."

"I'll tell her," said Jeanie. "Goodbye, Leonard."

"Goodbye, Jeanie."

Leonard hit the end button, and headed toward the kitchen to make his dinner.

 **Apt 314/Apt 4A, 5:30/2:30 PM Sunday October 7th 2012**

Leonard was taking a break from working and was in the kitchen, making a cup of tea when he heard Penny's ring tone. He walked to his desk, accepted the call, and said, "Hi Penny."

"Hi Sweetie," said Penny.

 _She sounds contrite_ , thought Leonard. Over the phone, he said, "How are you doing?"

"Better," said Penny, "Jeanie just left, she told me she called you last night. I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Leonard. "You didn't say anything except call me."

Sounding embarrassed, Penny said, "Jeanie told me, I was telling her, you didn't want to talk to me."

"I would always talk to you," said Leonard, "you know…"

"Yes, Leonard, I do know that," said Penny. "But, drunk, sad Penny didn't. I was sad, I was calling and you weren't answering, and I was drunk and I got pissed. I was blaming you for not answering, but it was my fault. I didn't check my phone when I got home, and by the time I did, your phone was going to voicemail."

"You know I was at the convention, and had no connections, right?"

"I do now," said Penny, "Jeanie told me."

"Speaking of Jeanie," said Leonard, "what is going on? Why are you sad? Jeanie says you are doing well enough."

"I know," said Penny, "I'm having trouble with all the good reviews and talk about how well I'm doing, compared to all the struggles I'm having at rehearsals and tapings."

"But Jeanie says you're doing fine," said Leonard.

"Yes," said Penny. "Jeanie is helping me get through all this. Jeanie is teaching me stuff I'm finding out I should have known. And what is she getting out of all of this? Me getting all the good comments, me going on the talk shows. Me, me, me, Leonard, nothing about Jeanie, who is doing everything to make me look good. It's not fair to her, and I feel guilty about it."

Leonard was quiet for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say to her. Finally he said, "What did Jeanie say about it?"

"That's just it," said Penny. "She tells me it helps the show, and it keeps her employed. That she feels she should help other cast members where she can. She said friends should help friends."

"It doesn't sound as if she has a problem with it," said Leonard, "so why would you?"

"I DON'T KNOW," yelled Penny. She continued in a softer voice, "I shouldn't, but like I said, I feel guilty. I'm ashamed that I'm getting all the good stuff, and the person who is getting me through is getting nothing. And before you say anything, I don't know how to fix it."

"I brought this up before," said Leonard, "but how about cutting back on your drinking?"

Penny sighed, "Jeanie mentioned that too, and sounded angry about it. She said I had food on the stove that was burning, and she also said getting drunk in a city as big as this might make me vulnerable to being attacked or getting taken advantage of, so yeah I think I better cut back a bit."

"That's good, Penny," said Leonard. "Sounds like she knows what she's talking about and what's good for you. I know I kinda wasn't there for you yesterday, but if you call, and I don't answer right away, you should know the minute I do get a chance, I'm going to call."

Again Penny sighed, "Yeah, I know better, but I was feeling sorry for myself, and had a few too many to remember that, I'm sorry." There was a pause and Penny said softly, "Leonard, I miss you so much, when I'm here, and when I didn't get you…"

"It's OK, Penny," said Leonard. "I miss you too"

"And I miss everyone else," said Penny. "It's so stressful sometimes, I don't have you to talk to, I don't have my other friends out there to talk to, and when I feel like that, I drink. And when I do drink, I forget how bad I feel…"

"Don't worry about it," said Leonard gently. "The important part is you learn what you need to learn, and listen to Jeanie, about work about living in the city, all of that."

"I will, she does know a lot," said Penny.

"She seems to be your friend," said Leonard.

"She is," said Penny, softly, "but, it's not like the girls out there. I mean Bernadette knew me when I was just a waitress and I knew Amy when she was more like Sheldon. I have something different with Jeanie, and I miss what I have with everyone out there. I even miss that crazy roommate of yours."

"I understand," said Leonard, "but try to keep from drinking so much, OK?"

"Look, sweetie, I've got some studying to do, and I didn't get a lot of sleep and I'm still feeling a bit of the hangover, so I'm going to go study, then get to bed early."

"That's a good idea," said Leonard. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, I love you."

"I love you too," said Penny. "Talk to you tomorrow, goodbye."

"Goodbye Penny," said Leonard. They both disconnected, then got to work; Penny on her script, and Leonard on his computer and whiteboard.

 **A/N I'm not sure I'm going to have another chapter out next week. I'm still on vacation, and will be doing some traveling and thus writing time will be limited. Also, it's just this week that my arm and wrist are somewhat usable, it's healing slowly. The biggest thing, is I've been struggling with the last few chapters (55-57, yes I'm that far ahead.)). The planned plot is at a place where the subject has made it difficult for me to write, and I'm a bit insecure about the chapters. I'm spending a lot of time rewriting, and editing. My readers TBBT78 and bfm10 have been invaluable in helping me with this.**


	42. Chapter 41

**A/N Thanks to all of you for waiting. I'm got another trip to make, but it's a short one, and won't interfere with publishing. As a matter of fact, after writing the last couple of weeks, I'm back to my 20 chapters ahead of publishing (working on 61) in first draft, and 10 ahead of publishing with copy correction. One thing I did notice, was I'm down to two pages of outline left (out of 12). I've been averaging about six chapters per outline page, so I'm about 12-15 chapters from the end. How does all this affect you? Well, I will not be skipping any more Sunday night/Monday Morning publishing days anymore. Even if I don't finish the first draft of a new chapter in a week, I have enough already written, that there won't be a need to skip any more Monday's. Once I finish, I may bump up publishing to twice a week (probably Monday and Thursday). But that's later, and going to depend on a couple of things. Anyway, here's the next chapter.**

 **Chapter 41**

 **Studio 44, NY 3:00 PM Monday October 8th 2012**

Penny was sitting in her director's chair, on the stage floor, in front of the guy's apartment. Penny was studying her script, her blocking and where she should be looking. Brent was next to her, playing on his phone.

Normally, she wasn't here this late on a Monday, but her and Brent had three scenes to pre-tape, and Steve, the director, had wanted to reshoot the first two, three times each. Now she was just waiting for the next scene.

Steve had been gone for about 15 minutes and she was wondering if he was going to come back. Tina came up to her, handing her a folder.

"What's this?" said Penny.

"That's your itinerary for Wednesday, when you are on Letterman. The limo will pick you up here at three , and take you to the Ed Sullivan Theatre. When you finish, around 6:30 or 7:00, the limo will take you back to your apartment."

"Oh, thanks, Tina," said Penny. "I didn't expect all of this, it will make it rather easy for me."

"Yep," said Tina, "by the way, you two are done once this scene is over."

"Thanks, Tina," said Penny.

Brent looked up from his phone, "Yeah, thanks, Tina."

"You all have a good evening," said Tina, "see you tomorrow."

Tina turned and left, just as Steve was walking up. Looking at Penny and Brent, Steve said, "You ready for this one?"

"Yeah," said Brent, "let's get it done so we can get out of here."

Penny asked, "What was the delay for?"

"Not sure yet," said Steve. "Something doesn't look right, but we'll look at it more tomorrow, when they edit it for the taping. Let's go."

Penny and Brent walked to their starting places, Steve looked around, then said, "Action."

They ran through the scene, Steve called, "Cut," and they were finished with that take. Steve wanted a couple of changes, and they ran it again. Then a few more, and they ran it a third time. Steve was looking at it through playback.

He turned to the two actors and said, "Something still doesn't look quite right, but three takes should cover it, and, as I said, we'll also look at this when we do the editing. You two are done for the day, we'll see you tomorrow."

Brent and Penny looked at each other, both of them shrugged and they left the stage for their dressing rooms to get ready to leave for home.

 **Studio 44, NY 10:00 PM Tuesday October 9th 2012**

Their show had finished taping, and the actors had gone to their dressing rooms, as the audience filed out. Penny cleaned off her makeup and put her computer and makeup into her bag. Her new script was already in the bag, she had looked it over at the taping's intermission. She turned off the light and then left her dressing room. She walked down to Jeanie's dressing room, and found her waiting. They left the studio together, walked out of the broadcast center and toward Jake's.

Arriving at Jake's, they found Jim and Kelli in the rear of the bar. Dave was already there with his wife, Pam, along with Tina. Jeanie and Penny sat in the back with Tina. Everyone said hi to them, then Kelli asked them what they wanted and then went to get their drinks.

Penny and Jeanie had just settled into their seats, when Brent came up, from the direction of the bar, and sat down at the open chair, almost across from them. Jeanie leaned over and whispered, "I don't remember him sitting here with us before, do you?"

Penny shook her head and answered, "No, he's stopped by, but I don't remember him sitting here either."

Everyone said hi to Brent, and Kelli came back, giving Brent a beer, and Jeanie and Penny their wine. They all held their glasses up while Jim offered a toast. After that, the group started talking among themselves in smaller groups.

Kelli and Jeanie were both trying to get Penny to see how much better she was doing, with Tina agreeing. Penny was trying to explain that it wasn't just how she was doing, but also, some embarrassment to all the attention she had been getting. Penny however, was feeling good about the compliments she was getting here tonight. Dave and Brent were talking, while Jim and Pam were talking and laughing at something.

They had been there for about a half an hour when Jim offered to get another round. As he went around the table, everyone gave him their order. When he got to Brent, he declined, saying he was going to go home.

He stood, and called out to Penny, "Hey, Penelope, it was great working with you, finally, in scenes, with just us. I'm looking forward to some more, whenever we get some. Great Job."

Penny was shocked, but managed to get out, "Thank you Brent. It was fun working with you too, you made this week a pleasure."

He smiled, raised his bottle, and finished his drink. "Goodnight everyone," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow morning." With that, he turned and left the bar.

Jim went and got everyone's drinks and they spent another 45 minutes there, talking. Tina was next to leave, then Dave and Pam. Finally, Kelli, Jim, Jeanie, and Penny got up to leave. Once outside, they said their goodbyes and Penny and Jeanie left for their apartments.

 **Studio 44, NY 9:45 AM Wednesday October 10th 2012**

Penny was in her dressing room, reading over her script, when there was a knock on her door. She rose, walked over to the door and opened it.

Tina was there, and said, "Penny, Steve and Billy Rowe want to talk to you and Brent after the table read today."

"Billy Rowe?" said Penny in a questioning voice. She didn't recognize the name.

"Yes," said Tina, "The show's editor. They are thinking you two may have to reshoot some of the scenes you shot on Monday."

"What? Why?" Said Penny.

"I don't know," said Tina, "They just wanted me to stop by and tell you both to stick around after the table read."

"But, I have to get to the Letterman taping," said Penny. "Will I have the time?"

"Sorry Penny," said Tina, "I told them that and they said they know about it, but the show comes first."

"Ok, thanks Tina," said Penny.

Tina left and Penny grabbed her script, markers, and travel mug, and headed down to fill up her mug with coffee before the table read.

 **Studio 44, NY 11:30 AM Wednesday October 10th 2012**

The table read was over and Penny went to fill her mug, before starting toward Steve's office. She got to Steve's office and found his door was open, so she simply cleared her throat. He looked up and waved her in, pointed toward a chair and went back to writing notes. Billy and Brent came in about a minute later. Steve looked up, put down his pencil and waved both of them to sit down.

"I know you're wondering why we wanted to see you," said Steve. Brent and Penny nodded their heads and Steve continued, "When Billy and I were editing the scene, we noticed that you both are leaning away from each other. Go ahead and put it up Billy."

Billy put in the DVD and hit play. He said, "Brent, Penny, look at your body language here. You are supposed to be working together on something for Bill, working closely together, but you are both leaning back, when you should be sorta huddled together."

Steve spoke up, "Remember on Monday, I was telling you something didn't look right, when I had you rerun the taping several times? I couldn't tell you exactly what, but when Billy brought this to me, I understood why it looked off to me."

Brent and Penny were looking at it, and Penny spoke up, "What do you want us to do?"

"Well," said Steve, "we talked to Jim and Kelli, showed them this, and they suggested, and Billy and I agreed, that we reshoot the scenes. We want to break for lunch, now. Penny, we know you have Letterman today, so we want to make sure we get the re-shoot finished in time for you to make it over there."

"Tina will be here shortly, with the pages for the three scenes. She'll have them so you two can refresh your memory for your blocking and your lines. So after you eat, go to the makeup room, and Linda and Jaime will get your hair and makeup ready, and Janet has your costumes. While you're getting ready, you can go over your lines and your blocking. We'll see you there at 1:30."

Penny and Brent nodded. A few seconds later, Tina walked in and gave them the pages for the scenes. They took the pages and then walked toward the craft services table to grab some lunch, then went to their dressing rooms, to eat, and to study.

 **Studio 44, NY 12:30 PM Wednesday October 10th 2012**

Penny and Brent were both sitting in front of the guy's apartment, waiting for the rest of the crew. The cameramen were there, and several other production crew members, who weren't normally on set, at this time on Wednesdays.

Brent and Penny were both going over the lines, and looking at their blocking. Steve, Tina, Kelli and Jim walked up and Jim asked, "Is everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded and Steve said, "Places." Brent and Penny got into position, Steve called, "Action," and they ran through the scene. Steve, Billy, Jim and Kelli walked over to the monitors and watched the playback.

After watching, Steve called, "Let's do it again. Brent, you were fine, Penelope, we need you to lean in more. Let's go." Everyone got into position and Steve called, "Action," and they ran the scene again. Steve walked over to the monitors, and watched with the others. They conferred for a few seconds, then Steve walked over to the two actors.

"Brent, you were fine, again," said Steve, "Penelope, is there a problem with you leaning closer to Brent?"

Penny shook her head and said, "No, but can I have a couple of minutes?"

"Sure," said Steve, softly, then he yelled out, "five minutes everyone."

Penny walked over to her directors chair and sat down. She was looking at her script, to hide her thoughts, when she heard, "Penelope?" Looking up, she saw Brent standing there.

"Look," he said, "I know you thought I was a bit creepy when we first met, and that may be part of this. But, as I told you last week when we talked, when it comes to production, I don't mess around."

"I don't know what you've heard, or who you heard it from, or if it's just the feeling you got from me, but when we're shooting scenes, you have nothing to worry about." He chuckled, "Not to mention, if you think so, just remember all the people that will be around us."

Penny nodded.

"You might want to try to lean what you think is too much in my direction," said Brent. "If you do that, you should have it about right."

Penny said, "Thanks Brent. It was just the feeling I got when we first met, and the times you hit on me. You're right about all the people here. It's just something I have to work on. That leaning in too much may be a good idea, I'll try it for the next take."

Brent nodded and walked away, Penny was looking at the set, thinking.

After five minutes, Tina called everyone back. The actors got into place, Steve called "Action," and they ran the scene. After calling, "Cut," Steve walked over to the monitors. He and the others watched the scene, conferred, and Steve called out, "That's a good one, Let's move to the next scene."

Penny looked at a smiling Brent. He raised his hand, "High five?" he said. Penny smiled and slapped his hand, then they moved to their places for the next scene.

 **Studio 44, NY 2:50 PM Wednesday October 10th 2012**

Penny closed and locked the door to her dressing room. She walked down to the lobby of the broadcast center carrying her bag and purse. Her dress was being taken to the studio where Letterman was taped by the two women who would do her makeup and hair. She made it to the receptionist and talked to her. She nodded and mad a call for the limo, while Penny sat down and waited.

While waiting she was thinking. She was happy how well the re-taping went, they only had to do one take for the other two scenes. Brent's comments and suggestions did the trick and she thanked him for the idea. Now she was re-evaluating her attitude towards Brent.

 _He's been nice to me, here at work, for a couple of weeks now. Hell, he made that nice comment Tuesday after the taping, and he brought me coffee, last week, so he's been nice to me even when were not actually working. I wonder, what has changed? Maybe I should ask him about it, maybe…_

"Miss Jensen, your limo is here," said the receptionist.

Penny was brought out of her reverie gathered her things and walked out of the broadcast center, and entered the limo.

 **Ed Sullivan Theatre, NY 5:40 PM Wednesday October 10th 2012**

Penny was waiting nervously in the Green Room. Jaime and Linda, who were from her show, had taken care of her makeup and hair respectively. She thought about looking into having someone on the East coast for such things. Dave was currently wrapping up talking to a politician she didn't know, and she was going over her notes on the scene they had provided Letterman.

The door of the green room opened and someone, an intern she assumed, informed her that she would be on in about five minutes. She got up, took a drink from her water bottle, checked herself in the mirror, smiled and gave the other two women a thumbs up. She then walked out, following the intern and was shown where to stand, behind the set.

She was looking at all the two by fours, and the other supporting wooden structures, thinking, _It's just like our set, it looks so substantial and strong, and it's noting but the least amount of wood they can use to make it look that way._

She was brought back to reality when she heard Dave start his introduction. "Our next guest is the new sensation from the show _Major's Tales_ , please welcome, Penelope Jensen."

 _Sensation?_ thought Penny, as she walked out from behind the set, and walked out to thunderous applause.

 **Ed Sullivan Theatre, NY 6:45 PM Wednesday October 10th 2012**

Penny had started putting her things away. Jaime and Linda had left, Linda taking her dress with her. She was looking forward to calling Leonard later tonight, to tell him all about it, when she heard a knock on her door.

She opened it and there was David Letterman standing there. "Mr. Letterman, come in, please," said Penny.

"Please Penelope," said Dave, " Call me Dave."

"Yes,sir," said Penny.

Dave chuckled, "Happens every time." Then said, "I hope you had a good time tonight. You made me laugh several times, the audience several more, so the TV audience should enjoy it."

"Thank you," said Penny.

"I know you got a lot of good publicity after you were on Craig's show," said Dave. "As a matter of fact, one of the reasons we wanted you was the recommendation of Craig. His show is part of my production company."

Penny was shocked and just nodded.

"You handled yourself very well," said Dave. "You have some sort of natural comedy instinct, that makes you very funny."

"But, I wasn't trying to be funny," said Penny.

"That's what I mean," said Dave, "you weren't trying to be funny, but you are. Even the story about not understanding anything when your boyfriend, and your other friends are talking because they are at Caltech, was funny. It just seems to come naturally to you."

"And another thing, you are so down to earth, almost all of my audience will connect with you, which is usually good for you. I just wanted to congratulate you, and wish you the best. Although, I think you are going to do just fine."

"Thank you, si…" Dave held up his forefinger and tilted his head.

"Dave," said Penny, as Letterman nodded. "That means a lot coming from you."

He smiled again, "You're welcome, good luck Penelope." David Letterman left the door.

Penny was smiling as she finished putting away her things. She walked to the lobby, and her driver called to her. As she was getting into the limo, she was thinking about how much she was looking forward to telling Jeanie what had just happened.


	43. Chapter 42

**A/N Here's the next one. I'm on the road, but I completed this before leaving. All I had to do was to upload it tonight. One thing to mention for this chapter, yes, I did get her permission before writing this. Penny explaining the lunch will be in the next chapter, you'll figure it out. I was able to one complete first draft chapters, one, I'm almost done with, and am working on a third (Chapter 64). So first drafts are going well. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 42**

 **Studio 44, NY 2:00 PM Thursday October 11th 2012**

Penny was sitting in her dressing room, waiting for the run through at three, reading several different articles on line. Again, she had gotten quite a few good comments on her appearance on David Letterman's show the previous night and, again, Jim and Kelli were thrilled.

She had made the introduction of the clip extremely funny, telling Letterman about a mistake that happened while taping, which had him laughing and pounding on his desk. She had also told Letterman about her boyfriend and other friends, who often confused her with their science and fandom talk.

She admitted she had learned quite a bit from them. Dave asked for something in particular, and Penny told him the meaning of Einstein's equation for energy and mass conversion. Penny had felt good about the comments Dave had made the previous night, in her dressing room and the good comments in the articles.

However, she wasn't all that happy about how the days rehearsal had gone. She made more mistakes, Steve had jokingly mentioned all the fame going to her head, and driving out her blocking. However, her continued struggles didn't seem all that funny to her, it just made her wish she was at home, so she could grab a glass of wine.

There was a call over the loudspeaker system for everyone to come down to the stage for the afternoon run through. Penny got up, grabbed her script and a pencil and walked down to the stage.

The two guys were gathered in front of their apartment. Penny was in front of her apartment, but she didn't see Jeanie. The producers, director, and a couple of writers walked down to the guys' apartment, as everyone prepared for the guys' scene. Penny sat in her chair running over her script.

It was ten minutes later when the production crew were walking toward the women's apartment. Penny got up and walked to her starting spot, although she still didn't see Jeanie. Tina walked up and moved to Jeanie's starting place.

Penny looked confused, until Tina said, "Jeanie went in to talk to Kelli. She's had a family emergency, and is taking off for Boston early for the weekend. I have her blocking and I'll be doing her blocking and lines this afternoon." Penny nodded, and started wondering what kind of emergency Jeanie had.

She was so caught up in her thinking, she missed moving to the kitchen and her first line. They stopped and started again and a bit later, waiting for Tina to complete the line, her mind wandered again, and Penny missed her cue. _Yeah, I'm so talented. I can't get even simple moves and lines down. God I need a drink._ They reset and started the scene again.

 **Studio 44, NY 4:00 PM Thursday October 11th 2012**

Penny was just getting ready to leave when there was a knock on her dressing room door. She continued packing up her bag, yelled, "Come in," and the door opened and Kelli walked in.

"Hi Kelli," said Penny, "What's up?"

"I just got a call from Gail, at Warner Brothers," said Kelli. "You are booked on The Tonight Show next Wednesday. When you get to LA next Wednesday, you need to call her, so she can give you the particulars for that show. And, yes, we have a clip we're going to be sending."

Penny froze for a second, "The Tonight Show?" Penny said questioningly.

"Yeah," said Kelli, "it surprised us as it's not on their network. But, they mentioned something about how they liked you on Letterman, and how you are getting some nice reviews and how you would be the only one, of the cast, out there next week, so they firmed it up for next Wednesday."

Penny was feeling overwhelmed. She remembered watching the show with her mother some in the early 2000s. To be meeting Jay Leno was a bit of a shock. She managed to get out, "Ok, I'll call her when I get out there."

"Also, Gail has a lunch interview set up, on Thursday, with a Glamour Magazine TV writer, her name is, a," Kelli checked her notebook, "let's see, Jessica Radloff."

Penny was floored again, while she didn't know Radloff, Glamour was one of her favorite magazines. She nodded, then thought a second, "Kelli, what's going on with Jeanie?"

"Not sure," said Kelli, "she asked if she could leave for Boston today, her mother has some sort of medical problem, I'll find out more tomorrow. She told me to tell you not to worry."

"Ok, then I'll see you tomorrow," said Penny.

Kelli said, "Goodbye," and left. Penny also said goodbye, and finished packing. Before getting home, she was going to the store for some food, and definitely some wine. She really felt the world closing in on her and just wanted a glass or two of wine tonight.

She was going to have dinner, have some wine, study her script some, and drink some more wine while she waited for Leonard's call, after her show was over on the west coast. She turned off the light, locked her door, and left the studio for the store, wondering what was wrong with Jeanie's mother.

 **Studio 44, NY 9:30 AM Friday October 12th 2012**

Penny had just arrived, and took her bag up to her dressing room. She had had, several glasses of wine the night before, but didn't feel hungover. She had also had an extended "Skype" session with Leonard, afterward joking with him that she won three to one. So she was feeling quite relaxed.

She grabbed her script out of the bag, and went down to the stage. She stopped at craft services for a cup of coffee, and took it to her directors chair, looking around for Jeanie, before realizing she wouldn't be here today. Kelli walked up to her, "Penny."

Penny looked up and said, "Hi, Kelly, what's up?"

"I just got a call from Jeanie," said Kelli. "She told me and I'm supposed to tell you that they are doing a biopsy on her mother today. So she won't be back until Sunday or Monday."

Penny looked worried, as she said, "Is her mother going to be all right?"

"She doesn't know," said Kelli.

While she was worried about Jeanie's mother, she had never thought about something like this would affect the show, and asked, "Will this screw up our taping on Tuesday?"

"We don't know right now," said Kelli. "We're working on some emergency plans. Obviously, we gave her today off, so she has a three day weekend and we are off for a week after the taping on Tuesday, so the plan is for her to return to Boston for the hiatus week."

"After that, I guess it will depend on exactly what her mother has to have done and when. She said she'll be here for the week after the hiatus so we're looking at moving scripts around to take advantage of that. For now, we'll just have to wait and see."

"Can I do anything for her?" said Penny.

"No, just be there if she wants to talk," said Kelli. "She actually said to tell you not to worry, she'll talk to you when she gets back. Possibly Sunday, but more likely Monday, before we do the run through."

"I guess I'll talk to her then," said Penny.

Just then quite a few of the production staff were showing up for the run through scheduled at 10:30. Kelli smiled at Penny and said, "I've got to go get my notes and get back." Kelli's voice dropped to a whisper, "But, not a word to anyone. She told me to tell you, but she isn't ready for the rest of the cast and crew to hear about it."

Penny nodded and waved as Kelli walked off, then looked at her script, finding her first scene, to be ready when everyone else showed up.

 **Studio 44, NY 10:00 AM Monday October 15th 2012**

Penny happily went back to work on Monday morning, the weekend had been very lonely. She had run to the store Saturday morning, and had thought about going to another club Saturday night, but decided against it, and just stayed in the rest of the weekend, studying her lines, watching TV and talking to Leonard.

Penny was sitting in her director's chair, sipping her coffee and studying her lines, waiting to start the run through scheduled for ten. A few seconds later, Kelli came out and said the run through would be delayed until 11:30, and the group started breaking up. Kelli walked over to Penny, telling her Jeanie's train had been delayed, and by the time she caught a cab, she wouldn't be there until almost 11.

The run through started at 11:45 and went very well, Penny marveled at Jeanie's ability to hit all her marks, even though she hadn't rehearsed in four days. While, herself, after studying all weekend, just barely made it through without an error. After lunch, they ran the pre-taping scenes, with both Penny and Jeanie sailing through flawlessly.

After getting off work, her and Jeanie had dinner out, then returned to Penny's apartment. Jeanie told Penny how they had found a mass of material in her mother's lower abdomen, and she would get the biopsy results this coming week, then if needed, surgery in a couple of weeks. Finally, Jeanie told Penny she just wanted to be there to help her mother and father.

Penny did have a question, "Jeanie, when we did the pilot, your dad was there, I just assumed he lived in LA."

Jeanie chuckled, "No, he just happened to be out there on business, so I thought I'd have him watch the pilot."

"Oh, OK," said Penny, "it just threw me when Kelli told me about Boston."

They continued talking until around 9 PM, when Jeanie left to get to bed, she was tired after having to catch an early train. After Jeanie left, Penny cleaned up, and started some packing for her trip home tomorrow night, while she waited for Leonard's call.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 4:30 PM Tuesday October 16th 2012**

Leonard entered his lab and put down his bag. He had been running tests on the various lasers, since this morning and hadn't been to his lab, all day. He saw he had messages and hit play. The third message was from Geoff:

 **Hi, Leonard, just letting you know the only time I'll be able to go over the files with you is tomorrow morning, at 7:30 AM your time. We're still two researchers down, so apologies if this is inconvenient.**

 **Cheers.**

 _Dammit,_ thought Leonard, _Penny is due in tomorrow at 7:30 AM, and I'll never make it back here in time. I'll have to get someone to get her._ He started by texting her, telling her to call when she got a chance. He then dialed Amy's number, preparing to ask her to pick Penny up the next morning.

 **Studio 44/Apt 4A, 10:30/7:30 PM Tuesday October 16th 2012**

Penny, was packing up her things, getting ready to walk to Jake's. Picking up her phone, she noticed a text from Leonard. Reading it, she called, and it was several rings before he answered. She could hear the disappointment in his voice as he explained why he couldn't get her in the morning, and Amy was going to pick her up.

While she herself was disappointed, she could tell Leonard was very unhappy about it. So, she acted as if it didn't matter, and tried to get Leonard's mind off of it, by telling him exactly what she intended to do to him the next night, then reminding him of the Skype session a few days before. Leonard felt somewhat better after talking to Penny, Penny finally telling him she had to go, but would see him at Caltech in the morning. With that, they each said, "I love you", before saying their goodbyes, and disconnecting.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 7:30 AM Wednesday October 16th 2012**

Leonard was going over his notes, waiting for the call from Geoff. He was struggling a bit, as his more recent notes weren't all that organized, and the additions he would be getting from Geoff were just going to make that worse. He was startled out of his thoughts by the phone ringing. He answered with a "Hello," and after a brief pause said, "hi, Geoff, good to hear from you, I didn't realize it was that late."

 **The 405, 9:30 AM Wednesday October 17th, 2012**

Penny was riding in Amy's car, talking to Gail, who was giving her all the information about getting to The Tonight Show. Gail had a limo coming for her at 3:30, with her hair and makeup people. Penny requested Shelia and Mindy, and Gail agreed.

She told Penny they would have a dress for her, then told her she should be done around 6:30 or a bit later, and home by 7 PM. Penny had written everything down, thanked Gail, then said goodbye. Penny started texting Leonard, to let him know she would be busy until 7, then they could go out for dinner.

 **Caltech Cafeteria, California 9:30 AM Wednesday October 17th 2012**

Leonard was sitting in the cafeteria, with a cup of coffee. He was a bit tired, from having to get up so early to take the call. He was thinking of the information Geoff had passed along to him, but thoughts of Penny kept intruding. She should be here any moment.

He heard, "Hi Dr Hofstadter," and turning, saw Alex. He extended his arm, inviting her to sit down. Alex was twirling her hair when she sat down, then asked how things were going. Leonard explained how he was having trouble organizing the data and files he had received from Geoff.

Unknown to either of them, Penny and Amy had arrived and were watching from the entrance to the cafeteria.

Penny turned to Amy, "Do you know who she is?"

Amy nodded and said, "Yes, she's Sheldon's new assistant. She's supposed to go through his old work notebooks and some tapes he records when he's sleeping and see if there is anything in there, that could be used as an avenue for some research."

"Leonard told me Sheldon is also using her as a gofer, having her get his lunch, any drinks he wants, and sending her to the store. I was worried she was going after Sheldon, but after watching this, that skank is your problem, not mine."

Alex said, "Can you do me a favor, Leonard?"

"What?"

"I finished reviewing Dr Cooper's sleep tapes today, and I need the next group. Dr Cooper won't be home tonight, and I have a dentist appointment right after work. Can you get the box, with the tapes, and bring them to my apartment, so I can start labeling and organizing them tonight? I have several meetings tomorrow and would have to wait until Friday to start listening to them, if I had to wait until tomorrow to pick them up. Around 5:30 would be good."

Leonard thought about it, Penny was going to be busy until 7 or later, so he nodded, pulled out his phone, and said, "Sure, what's your address."

While Leonard typed it into his phone, Alex recited her address, then put her hand on his arm and said, "Thank you. If you bring his tapes, I'll help you with your files."

"I can't pay you, Alex."

"Don't worry about it, Leonard," said Alex rubbing his arm, "It isn't necessary."

Penny hadn't seen Leonard doing anything untoward, but between the twirling of her hair, and touching his arm, this woman's actions were bothering her. After she saw Alex rubbed his arm, Penny thought, _That's enough of that_. Penny walked through the door, toward their table, Amy had to hurry to catch up to Penny.

"Leonard," said Penny, walking up to him.

" **PENNY** ," he said loudly, as he jumped up and enveloped her in a hug.

Penny intentionally broke the hug and kissed Leonard. Not a simple peck but a serious, wet, tongue kiss, which was something she didn't normally do in public. After breaking the kiss, she could see Alex out of the corner of her eye, looking shocked. Seeing the reaction, she thought, _Yeah, he's mine, bitch, so take your reaction down the road._

After breaking the kiss, Leonard said, "Oh, Penny, this is Alex, she's Sheldon's assistant. She's also asked about my work, and comes in here every so often to talk about it."

Penny gave her, her best acting smile and said, "Nice to meet you," while thinking _I bet you do talk, but not just about his work._

Alex managed a smile, _not much of one,_ thought Penny, and said, "Nice to meet you too, Leonard's told me a lot about you."

Penny just nodded and turned to Leonard, "You ready to go to brunch, sweetie?"

"Yes, I am," said Leonard. "Let's go get your luggage from Amy's car, then we can go to brunch, before I get you home." He turned to Alex, "I'll see you later, Alex." Leonard started toward the door.

Penny, again giving one of her acting smiles said, "It was nice to meet you, Alex." She started to walk away, but turned to Amy, and said softly, but just loud enough for Alex to hear, "I can't wait to get some brunch and then get Leonard home and into bed."

She saw Amy grin, but was more interested in Alex's reaction. Looking past Amy, she could see Alex wasn't happy and thought, _yeah, I got the reaction I was hoping for. You're not going to get him, bitch._ Penny turned and grabbed Leonard's arm and started walking away, holding on to Leonard, with Amy following.

Alex watched them walk away. At first she looked mad, then thoughtful.


	44. Chapter 43

**A/N Here's the next chapter. This is a rather long chapter. When I was writing the first draft, I made an error with the time/location that starts every scene. I had to go back and rewrite several chapters, to get several scenes I missed, due to the time mistake, back into the proper place. I ended up moving some things back, pulling some things** **forward, and this chapter (and the previous) ended up being rather long. The next few are back to their normal length. And yes, a certain TV writer was consulted and approved parts of this chapter.**

 **Chapter 43**

 **Alex's Apartment, Pasadena 5:30 PM Wednesday October 17th 2012**

Leonard was at the door of the apartment building in East Pasadena. He pushed the button marked "Jensen" and was rewarded with the buzz of the door lock. He opened the door and took the stairs to the third floor. Half-way up, he chuckled to himself, he hadn't even thought of using the elevator, which worked here. Finding Alex's apartment, he knocked on the door and waited.

Alex opened the door and invited him in. She was wearing a pair of very short exercise shorts, and a blue spaghetti string top, that fit tightly and displayed her cleavage.

Leonard tried not to stare at it, as he handed her the box of tapes. She turned and set the box down then turned back to Leonard and hugged him, saying, "Thank you."

A surprised Leonard left his arms out, not sure what to do with them. After several seconds, Alex broke the hug and walked toward her couch, Leonard was watching her as she walked. When she got to the couch, she sat down and picked up a plate of food.

It was then that Leonard noticed quite a few boxes of Thai food scattered on the table. Alex was looking at Leonard and said, "Do you want to join me to eat?"

"No, no thank you," said Leonard.

"You sure?" said Alex, "I got way more than I should have, so please stay and after we eat, we could have a few drinks. I could also start helping you with organizing your work."

Leonard was getting nervous, "No, sorry, I'm going out with Penny for dinner tonight."

Alex took a drink, looking at Leonard over the rim of the glass. She lowered the glass, and still looking at him said, "Well, yeah, OK. How about after she goes back to New York? I could help you with organizing your work, and then you could stay for dinner, a few drinks and whatever else, how's that?"

It finally dawned on Leonard what Alex meant about having a few drinks, and that Alex's comments over the last few weeks, were her being flirtatious. He was trying to say something but all that came out was a mumble. Finally, he was able to croak out, "I gotta go." With that Leonard hurried to the door, and left quickly.

Alex watched the door close, disappointment written on her face.

 **The 101, Pasadena 7:00 PM Wednesday October 17th 2012**

Penny was on the way home from the taping of _The_ _Tonight Show, with Jay Leno_ in the limo and was thinking about her day. She was a bit disappointed as it hadn't gone as expected, nor was it like the first few times she had come home.

She prepared for the taping by taking a shower. She had blow dried her hair, then just put it up, knowing it was going to be done at the studio.

She had looked forward to seeing Sheila and Mindy to do her hair and makeup, and they were also bringing her a blouse and pants, along with a dress for her to decide on what to wear. She was also thinking about her lunch interview tomorrow, and she had gotten a call from Gail who wanted her to come to Warner Brothers on Friday to tape some new promos.

The taping went real well, it seems she had a knack for doing talk shows. The audience reacted enthusiastically when she was introduced, Jay was laughing at her stories about the show, and she managed to make her clip intro really funny and it was well received.

Jay had come by to offer some nice comments for her performance on the show, then wished her good luck. After the show, the women were laughing and giggling with each other, until the limo dropped the other two women off first, before heading to Penny's apartment building.

She was not thinking about the other parts of her day,

 _I wish Leonard was there to pick me up this morning. I didn't mind Amy picking me up, that wasn't really all that bad. After all, I've been missing my California friends, more and more, and wished I could spend more time with them, when I'm home. But, between spending time with Leonard, and the requests to be on talk shows, interviews, and promos, there just isn't enough time._

 _Now, I have to deal with that bitch, who was flirting with Leonard, at the university this morning._ She smiled, _I have to give him credit, he wasn't reacting as if he was interested._ Her smile disappeared at the next thought, _was that because he wasn't interested, or he just didn't know she was flirting with him?_

 _At least we were able to have our normal brunch, before going back to the apartment, for some actual sex, before he had to go back to work._

She was still thinking about Leonard and that woman. She sighed, _I'll have to talk to Leonard about her. I have to find out if he knows what that woman is doing. If he doesn't, I'll have to explain to he, that she is flirting with him. He can be so clueless sometimes._

The limo stopped in front of the apartment building. She put on her jacket, picked up her purse and her bag with her computer, and left the limo, thanking the driver. She entered the building and started up the three flights of stairs.

 **Apt 4A, Pasadena 7:15 PM Wednesday October 17th 2012**

Leonard had been checking the data he had gotten from Geoff this morning, when he heard Penny's door close. He put away his files, walked across the hall, and was now standing outside of the door of 4B. He knew he had to tell Penny what had happened this afternoon, along with Alex's actions over the last few weeks, but was still uncertain on how to begin. _Well, waiting out here isn't going to solve the problem._ He opened the door, and walked in.

"Penny?"

"I'm in the bedroom," said Penny, "I'll be right out."

He walked to the table and was looking out of the window, when Penny walked out of the bedroom. She had a white t-shirt and jeans on. She walked up to Leonard, and after a short hug, she kissed him.

Penny knew something was wrong, "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Leonard, "turning away and going to the refrigerator."

"Come on Leonard," said Penny, "I can tell. You didn't really hug me back and you definitely weren't into the kiss, so what gives?"

"You want some wine?"

"While I do want some wine," said Penny, "I want you to tell me what's wrong. Remember the deal before I left for New York. We talk about what is bothering us?"

Leonard pulled out an open bottle and poured two glasses. After he put the bottle away, he picked up the glasses and said, "Let's go sit on the couch." '

He put the glasses on the coffee table, then sat on one end of the couch, while Penny sat in the middle, looking at him.

He tried to start several times, but couldn't figure out what to say. Finally, he though he would approach the subject from the side. "Ok, I want you to know that I didn't do anything, and so you don't have to get mad at me."

"Let me guess," said Penny with a wolfish grin, "you finally figured out that Alex was hitting on you."

Leonard was shocked, and said, "How did you know?"

"I saw you two this morning in the cafeteria," said Penny. "Hell, even Amy saw it."

"Wait a minute," said Leonard, "you were spying on me?"

"No, we weren't," said Penny. "When you weren't in your lab, we came to the cafeteria. I saw her twirling her hair the whole time, laughing at everything you said."

"What do those things have to do with hitting on me?"

"Oh, Leonard," said Penny, "you can be so naive. When a woman plays with her hair when she's talking to a guy, it's an indication that she's attracted to him, and wants him to notice her. As for her laughing, I love you, but you aren't funny enough to have her laugh at everything you say."

"Is that all you know?"

"That's all I know for sure," said Penny. "But, I suspect she's probably made some comments over the last couple of weeks, probably just some subtle hints that you didn't pick up on."

"Yeah," said Leonard, "after this afternoon, I thought about it some and remembered a couple of things. One time she mentioned how she was sad because she was alone and kept hinting she didn't like it. Another time she was saying she didn't like eating dinner alone, when I mentioned I was alone, she kept saying it would be nice to eat dinner with someone."

"Hey, wait a minute," said Leonard, "you said you knew what she was doing, but this morning, you were really nice to her, how come?"

"A couple of reasons," said Penny. "She really wasn't doing anything outright, so I really couldn't say anything. Besides, I thought it would be rougher on her if I kissed you, hugged you, or, like when I whispered to Amy, and Alex could hear, that I couldn't wait to get you alone, in bed. I could see it pissed her off. She was flirting with you, but I was taking you home and I was going to make sure she understood who you belonged to."

"Then you don't know about this afternoon?" said Leonard.

"Wait," said Penny frowning, "what happened this afternoon?"

"Well," said Leonard, "before you showed up today, she asked me to bring Sheldon's tapes over to her apartment. But, before that, I was complaining about having to organize all my notes, especially the ones I just got from Geoff. And she offered to help, When I said I didn't need help, and besides, I couldn't pay her, she said it didn't matter."

Penny stared at Leonard, "Ok, Leonard, tell me what she did to finally make it clear to you that she wasn't just being friendly."

Leonard looked away, _That's my Leonard_ , thought Penny, as she could see he was struggling with it. "Tell me Leonard."

"When I took over Sheldon's tapes over to her, she invited me to stay for dinner and I reminded her I was going out to dinner with you. She simply said that after you went back to New York, we could have dinner, and then sit together for drinks and watch a movie or two…and…ah…ah"

"What else, Leonard?"

"And, whatever else."

"What the fu…," Penny started.

"Look, Penny…"

"What did you say?" demanded Penny.

"I was so flustered I couldn't even say anything to her," said Leonard, "I just left. Later, I texted her and made it clear I had no interest in her sexually, and that you were my girlfriend, and we should only talk when it had to do with work."

Penny grinned at him, "Is that because you knew I would go all Nebraska on you?"

Leonard grinned back at her, "That thought did occur to me."

"I'm glad I didn't know that before meeting her today," said Penny, "I would have gone all Nebraska on her ass."

"I don't know," said Leonard. "I seem to remember you not doing all that well the last time your tried it with that woman on the fifth floor."

Penny glared at Leonard, "Do I need to remind you of what I did to that guy that stole Sheldon's make believe stuff?"

"No, no, no," said Leonard. "I retract that. But, why didn't you say something to me this morning, at brunch?"

"There was no reason to," said Penny. "I knew what she was up to, but you weren't reacting as if you were interested. That conversation in the cafeteria would have been much different, for the both of you, if I had thought you were flirting back. I was dead serious on what I told you before I left. I'm not putting up with ANY fooling around. You do it, we're done."

Leonard was quiet.

"What, Leonard?" said Penny. "You two haven't…"

"No, no, no. I have to admit it was fun having her paying attention to me," said Leonard, "laughing at my lame jokes. It was nice having other women pay attention to me, not that I would react to it."

Penny was again glaring at him.

"Cool down, Penny," said Leonard. "Remember when you other guys used to flirt with you when we were out? You didn't act on any of it, but I could tell you were enjoying the attention, hell, you were flirting back, and you were smiling the whole time."

Penny stared at him, "Hey, we're not talking about me, we're talking about you and Alex."

"And I'm just telling you it made me feel good, like it appeared it made you feel good, but notice I told her not to bother with me anymore."

Penny still didn't look mollified, "OK, fine, I get that, and yes, I noticed you didn't act on it. But, you just remember what I told you. Do not put your hands, lips, tongue, or any other part of your body on or in another woman, you got that?"

"You and food, that's it. It should have been obvious at my reaction to Alex," said Leonard.

"Ok, yeah, fine, it was obvious. You did good by not reacting, is that what you want me to say?"

"Penny," said Leonard softly, "are you insecure about this?"

Penny didn't say anything.

"So, you _are_ insecure about this."

"Yes, Leonard," said Penny, "I'm insecure about this, you happy now?"

Leonard said, "Well, yeah, because…"

"What the hell…"

Leonard chuckled, "I shouldn't say I'm happy, but, you are always so sure of yourself, especially when it comes to our relationship. I'm the one that is always insecure, worrying about if you are going to stay, so to have you feel insecure feels like we are both invested in the relationship."

"Remember when I said I was insecure about you flirting, because I think you want something better than an asthmatic nerd? And how you always talk about how you aren't worried about me running off, like I'm the one that has to worry about it."

Penny looked away, "Yeah, so."

"Well, I feel good because this just shows me that you are worried about losing me. Which means we both worry about the other person, but each of us has no intention of running off."

"And, that means what?"

"I think this is why you keep telling me no fooling around. You love me and don't want to lose me, but just because you don't want to lose me, doesn't mean you don't have limits. Just to let you know, that works both ways. It's one of my limits also. If you don't want me, tell me, and then you are free to do what you want, don't fool around on me."

Penny looked sheepish, "Yeah, you have this all figured out, don't you? Yes, I love you. Yes, I don't want to lose you. And, yes, fooling around is a limit of what I will allow. But I guess that it makes sense that you feel the same, right?"

"Yes," said Leonard. "it does. Now, is that enough of that particular subject for tonight?"

Penny nodded.

"So, how did your show go?"

"Come on, I'll tell you at dinner," said Penny. "Where are you taking me?"

"Taking you?" said Leonard with mock indignation. "You're the rich Hollywood star, appearing on Leno's show, getting a lunch interview tomorrow, where are you taking me?"

"I think I can afford In and Out Burger," said Penny with a laugh.

"Yeah," scoffed Leonard, "I think you can take me to that Italian place on the strip. At least that's where I'm driving to."

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 7:15 AM Thursday October 18th 2012**

Penny heard the shower running and rolled over to look at the clock. Well, Leonard has to be in at nine, and I don't have to get up until then. She rolled back over and fell back asleep.

Forty-Five minutes later Penny felt herself being kissed, and opened her eyes, seeing Leonard looking down at her. "I'm leaving," said Leonard, "just wanted to say goodbye and have a good lunch."

"Goodbye, sweetie," said Penny, "have a good day."

"I'll try," said Leonard. "Remember, everyone will be over tonight to watch the show. Amy and Sheldon will be picking up the food and Raj, Howard and Bernadette will be over around seven."

"I know," said Penny, "what time will you be home?"

"Around six," said Leonard.

"Good, I can tell you about my lunch," said Penny. "Kiss me goodbye."

Leonard leaned over, and kissed Penny again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He finally pulled away, smiled at her, and left the apartment, to pick up Sheldon before driving to Caltech. An hour later, when Penny's alarm when off, she rolled over, shut it off, and got out of bed to start getting ready for her lunch and interview.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 6:15 PM Thursday October 18th 2012**

Penny heard the lock and looked up in time to see Leonard walk through the door. They smiled at each other and Leonard walked over to Penny and gave her a kiss. She said, "Do you want a glass of wine?"

"Sure."

Penny got up and poured a glass for Leonard while he sat down at the table. She brought the glass to him, and he said, "Thanks, how did your lunch go, with, with, what was her name?"

"Her name is Jessica Radloff," said Penny, "it was so much fun. She is so funny."

"So what questions did she ask you?"

"That's just it," said Penny, "she didn't really ask that many questions. We just had lunch and talked. I felt real comfortable with her, she really listened to what I was saying."

"She told me about how she got her job, what she did before this job, where she was from. Then I would tell her the same things about me, although I talked a lot more than she did. Maybe that's why she didn't have to ask many questions, well she did ask questions about the show."

"We giggled a lot," said Penny. "I told you she was funny and she thought I was funny. She said the article will be online next week, I'm not quite sure on which day. But, I can't really wait to see it. She was just so nice and I'd really like to just hang out with her."

"Well," said Leonard, "I'm glad it went so well. When it comes to the show, you seem to be doing well with the press and on talk shows. That has to make Jim and Kelli happy."

"It does," said Penny, "I really can't wait until they see this article, I think it's going to be a good one."

They could hear Amy and Sheldon out in the hall. Leonard turned to Penny, "They got here early. Do you want to go over and help them get ready?"

Penny laughed, "Not really, but I suppose we should. The others will be here shortly."

Penny and Leonard left 4B, walked over to 4A, and started helping Sheldon and Amy set up plates, and put out the food. They finished just as Bernadette, Howard and Raj arrived.

Everyone grabbed their plates and started eating, talking about their days. The big news was that Howard had picked up his new car that afternoon, and was going to the administration, to get his parking spot the next day. Everyone finished eating around 7:30 and they all pitched in to clean up.

They put the extra food in containers, wash the dishes and reset all the chairs, preparing to watch Penny's show. They finished just before eight, all sitting down, while Leonard turned on the TV. It was only minutes before they heard the beginning of the show's theme song.


	45. Chapter 44

**A/N It's a good thing I'm ahead in writing this. With the finale of the series, and a couple of other things, I haven't been writing anything, the last week. I also found a problem with some future chapters as I was working on 52, then worked on it on my laptop, and I ended up with two different versions of chapter 52, which I'm now checking paragraph by paragraph. It also appears that I've moved a couple of section around in chapters 44-46, (This chapter is fixed, i've got to fix the others). None of this, of course, is a concern of you, the readers, but I mention it, so you know i am checking and rechecking on this. I also have suggestions from my primary reader and my copy corrector. Anyway, this chapter is long enough, on it's own, without this long A/N. I'll let you get to it.**

 **Chapter 44**

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 10:30 PM Thursday October 18th 2012**

Penny and Leonard were just about finished getting ready for bed. Everyone had watched Penny's new episode and after Penny's show, they had broken out by gender, with the women gathering in the kitchen. Everyone started cleaning up around 9:30, and everyone was gone by ten.

"So what was all the girl talk about," asked Leonard.

"Nothing much," said Penny, "Asking me about my work, me asking them about their work, planning our girls night, on Saturday."

"Where are you going?"

"I think we are just going to meet here," said Penny, "since you guys are going to play video games across the hall."

"Oh, OK,"

"Is there a problem with that?" said Penny.

"No, no,"said Leonard, "not at all, just surprised you weren't going out."

"We can drink and talk here just as easily as going out," said Penny. "Actually, it's easier for m. What was the big news with all the guys?"

"Howard is picking up a new car tomorrow," said Leonard. "He went to the administration to get a parking spot."

"Maybe they can bring it over, Saturday night," said Penny.

"I'll see it, tomorrow," said Leonard.

They were getting into bed. Penny snuggled up to Leonard. Leonard put his left arm out, with Penny laying her head on his arm, her hand playing with the hair on his chest.

Penny had a wolfish grin on her face. "What do you say we get Sheldon to find his noise cancelling headsets?"

Leonard chuckled, "He knows exactly where they are, he was complaining earlier, that he had to use them last night."

"Well then, lets see if we can make it loud enough so he has to hear us."

Leonard pulled Penny in, kissed her deeply, and his hands started roving over her body. Fifteen minutes later, Sheldon was reaching for his headsets.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 8:00 AM Friday October 19th 2012**

Penny opened her eyes, she could smell coffee and realized Leonard must have started the coffee maker. She stretched, threw the covers back and got up. She put on her robe and walked out to the kitchen. Leonard's back was to her, pouring another cup, when she walked up behind him, and gave him a hug.

"Hey, you," said Penny, "you want to pour me a cup too?"

"What are you doing up?" asked Leonard, "I figured you'd be exhausted after last night."

Penny smiled, "I got enough sleep. Besides, you obviously forgot I have to shoot some promos today," said Penny.

"Oh, yeah," said Leonard, grabbing another cup and pouring coffee into it, "What time?"

"I have to be at Warner Brothers at 10:30," said Penny. "and should be done by around two. Do we have plans tonight?"

"Just dinner, come home, find a movie or two to watch," said Leonard. "Unless you have an idea for something you want to do."

"No," said Penny, "that sounds great. We have girls night tomorrow, so I think a night at home together is something we should do."

Leonard smiled, and walked over to Penny. He kissed her and said, "Goodbye, I'll see you tonight. Break a leg today."

Penny smiled, "Thanks, have a good day." Leonard walked to the couch and picked up his messenger bag, opened the door and left.

Penny took a few sips of her coffee, then took her cup with her to the bathroom, so she could start getting ready to leave for her promo shoots.

 **Warner Brothers, 11:30 AM Friday October 19th 2012**

Penny was sitting in the makeup room, as Shelia finished blowing out Penny's hair. Mindy was watching, just waiting her turn, to do Penny's make-up. All three were joking around, just starting to have fun, when Gail arrived and she was now getting involved, as she started giggling at the three of them.

Five minutes later, Mindy started working on Penny and by 1 PM, they were walking toward the small studio, to shoot her part of the promos. The procedure was going to be pretty much the same as it had been before. They had several scripts for Penny, a couple would just be her. Another couple would have Jeanie in them, once they filmed and added her to the tape Penny had recorded.

They had finished by two, and Penny had persuaded all three women to come to lunch, Penny was buying. About fifteen minutes later, Penny had changed back into her own clothes, wiped her makeup off, and was ready to go to lunch.

 **Caltech Cafeteria, 1:30 PM Friday October 19th 2012**

Leonard was sitting in the cafeteria, a full plate of salad in front of him. He was paying no attention to his food, thinking over some of the new data he had gotten from Geoff.

They were both now calculating the shape of the reflections, and were getting the same answers, and those calculations were matching the experimental results Geoff was getting. There were some extraneous results, some of the reflections didn't match any of the particles, and Leonard was wondering if it was some resonance with reflections off of composite particles.

He was brought back to the world, when he realized someone was standing next to him. He looked up and found himself staring at Alex. With a blank look on her face, she said, "Dr Hofstadter, Dr Cooper wants you to know that Dr Fowler will be taking him home."

She turned to go, and Leonard said "Alex, wait."

She turned back to him, "Yes, Dr Hofstadter?"

"What's with the Dr Hofstadter?" Said Leonard. "I told you to call me Leonard."

"You requested I not speak to you outside of work," said Alex. "So, I do not believe I should refer to you so informally."

"Alex," said Leonard, "I may have over reacted a bit. But, you need to know I love Penny. I'm not looking to find anyone else. So, while I'm not interested in pursuing a relationship with you, or having you pursue me, I want to remain friendly with you. I'd also prefer you not being mad at me."

"I'm not sure that's possible, Dr Hofstadter," said Alex, "considering my feelings for you, my rather embarrassing approach, I prefer to just keep my distance. I assure you, I'm not mad at you, and I won't avoid you, but except for work, I won't seek you out."

"It's up to you Alex," said Leonard, "I don't have a problem with you, as long as you understand I have a girlfriend. But, you do what you have to do to feel comfortable."

"Thank you, Dr Hofstadter," said Alex, "you have a good day."

She turned and walked away, Leonard watched her leave, shaking his head, with a sad expression.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 6:00 PM Friday October 19th 2012**

Penny had gotten a cab, as she was feeling rather tipsy, well, all of them were feeling tipsy. They would all have to go back tomorrow, to pick up their cars, but they all felt it was safer to take a cab. Their lunch had lasted for almost three hours, most of it just spent drinking, giggling, and learning more about each other.

Penny had dropped all the other women off first, and was now paying the driver. She tipped him, then walked into the building. She had minor difficulties with the stairs, but finally made it to the apartment and opened the door.

Leonard was sitting at the table, with some wine, and he turned when she walked in.

"Running a bit late this afternoon?" asked Leonard.

"Yeah," said Penny, "I bought lunch for my hairdresser and makeup person. I've hired them to be my people whenever I need hair and makeup done. Also, the person who I contact about the show here in LA. We mostly just sipped on wine, laughed, and learned about each other. Sorry I'm late, I had to take a cab. What are you doing over here?"

"It's silly really," said Leonard. "Sheldon got upset because they gave his parking spot to Howard, then…"

"Wait a minute," said Penny, "Sheldon doesn't drive and doesn't have a car, why does he have a parking space?"

"That's what the whole argument was about," said Leonard. "Howard said the university gave it to him, because Sheldon wasn't using it. So, Sheldon took Howard's Iron Man helmet, because Sheldon said he wasn't using it, it was just sitting on the shelf. So, when we got home tonight, we found Howard sitting in Sheldon's spot, with Sheldon's laptop on his lap."

"What's wrong with that?" said Penny.

"Howard was naked," said Leonard.

"Eeeeewwwwwww." said Penny.

Leonard chuckled, "That was mild compared to Sheldon's reaction."

"So what happened then?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know," said Leonard. "Sheldon ran to his room, Howard started getting dressed after he rubbed the laptop on his junk, and his butt on Sheldon's spot. After that, I left to come over here. After the day I had, I didn't need that."

"What was wrong with your day?"

Leonard hesitated, he wasn't sure bringing up Alex was a good idea, but now that Penny asked, he started out trying to sooth Penny first, "Look, I don't want you to get mad, nothing happened, but something is bothering me."

"What happened with Alex?"

Leonard shook his head, he should have known Penny would pick up on it. "Nothing really, she brought me a message from Sheldon, and she was very formal. I tried to tell her she didn't have to be as formal, that she could still call me Leonard, but she didn't feel that was appropriate. Now I wonder if I could have handled it differently."

He waited for an eruption by Penny, but was surprised when she calmly said, "I don't think there is anything you can do, Leonard. She probably embarrassed about what happened, probably has feelings for you, and it's her way of handling it."

"Wow, I didn't expect you to be so calm about it," said Leonard.

"I can see her point of view," said Penny. "I may not like it, but I can see it. Just leave her alone. She may come around to being able to talk to you, socially, but until she feels right about it, you don't need to stick your nose in her business. But, remember what I said about you and her."

"I suppose you're right," said Leonard, nodding. "Now, if I could get to you to talk to Howard and Sheldon, maybe we can stop Sheldon rubbing his junk on Howard's laptop."

Penny was shaking her head, "I don't even want to imagine something like that. So, I'm like you, I don't want to know about it. Where is he?"

"Well, he's over there," said Leonard. "I heard Amy come over, but I'd rather just stay here. We were going to stay in anyway, how about I order pizza, one for you, one for me without cheese. And while we wait, we can figure out what movie to watch. After we eat, we can cuddle up on the couch."

"OK," said Penny, "you order the pizzas, I'll pick out the movies, pour the wine and I'll meet you at the couch." Leonard started dialing."

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 4:00 PM Saturday October 20th 2012**

Leonard and Penny woke up around 8, went for brunch at their usual place, and spent the day at a different farmer's market than they had gone to the last time Penny was home. They looked at antiques, at various crafts, and bought several different fruits.

Several times Penny was stopped and asked to have a picture taken or sign an autograph. Twice, Leonard was pushed off to the side, as fans surrounded Penny. She was worried about his reaction, but was relieved when he looked amused, rather than angry.

Around two they left, as Penny had to be back by four, as her and Bernadette were taking Amy on a surprise trip, then going to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

After they got home, they both got their showers, then got dressed. Penny was waiting for Amy and Bernadette, while Leonard went across the hall to 4A. Raj was already there, and he and Sheldon were setting up.

Leonard asked where Howard was, and was curtly told by Sheldon that Howard still didn't understand that parking place was Sheldon's, so Sheldon had told him not to come over and added that he, Sheldon, would take care of the problem.

Leonard sighed, and started dialing to order the food for the three of them. They started playing as a team online and had some success. About 45 minutes later there was a knock on the door, Leonard answered, it was their food, and he paid for it. The three of them took a break to eat, before getting back to playing.

They were looking forward to several hours of play, but about a half hour after they finished eating, Penny and Amy came into the room. Amy telling Sheldon she needed to talk to him, in private, and Penny telling Leonard to come back to 4B. As a result, the game broke up.

As Leonard and Penny were walking back to their apartment, Raj tried to get an invitation for the rest of the evening, which Leonard shut down quickly, then closed the door in Raj's face.

There were three glasses of wine on the coffee table, and as they both sat on the couch, Penny pushed one of the glasses over to Leonard, "Here, no one drank any wine here tonight, so take this one."

"What happened?"

"We took Amy to get a bikini wax…"

"I didn't need to know that," said Leonard, with a grimace.

"Sorry," said Penny. "Anyway, then we went to dinner…it was fun going back to the Cheesecake Factory. I knew several of the waitresses, and we were talking about…"

"Penny," interrupted Leonard, "what happened here?"

"Oh, sorry," said Penny, "when we got back here, Amy and Bernadette started talking about the fight Sheldon and Howard are having, then started arguing about who was wrong, then they started getting personal with each other. It got real nasty, Bernadette telling Amy her sex life was theoretical, and Amy telling Bernadette when they had sex, Howard thought about crawling back up into his mother's womb."

Leonard started laughing, Penny looking at him and finally broke down and started laughing too. When they finally stopped, Penny said, "Leonard, this is serious. Bernadette left, Amy's mad, and I don't know what to do."

"I don't either," said Leonard. "Howard didn't even come over tonight, Sheldon told him not to. Until we can get those two to stop, Amy and Bernadette may just keep going."

Penny sighed, "Yeah, I guess. So, there's nothing we can do?"

"Not that I can think of," said Leonard. "You want to just snuggle up here on the couch and watch a couple more movies tonight?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice," said Penny, with a smile."

"Good, you pour the wine, and I'll pick out the movies," said Leonard.

"No," said Penny, "you'll pick some science fiction thingy."

"Hey, you picked the movies last night, two romance things, so it's my turn," said Leonard.

Penny pouted at him.

Leonard ignored it, "Pouting won't do you any good, I'm picking the movies. So pour the wine and I'll meet you on the couch."

Leonard walked toward the couch, leaving Penny no choice but to start pouring the wine.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 8:00 AM Sunday October 21th 2012**

Leonard and Penny woke up, when the alarm when off, got dressed and left the apartment. Leonard had planned the day, and after brunch at Marston's, took Penny to the same stable where they had ridden before.

This surprised Penny who said, "You sure, sweetie? Remember last time you were hurting, cramping, and couldn't walk for the day."

Leonard smiled, "Yes, I'm sure. This is something you enjoy, although, I asked about a shorter ride this time. We'll only be out for about an hour."

Penny smiled, "That should be plenty of time, thanks sweetie."

They got their horses, the same ones as before, and went out with their guide and several others on a different trail. This ride was definitely shorter than last time, and Leonard only hurt a little. He was able to get down off his horse, by himself, and walk with Penny back to the stable.

After riding, they started back to Pasadena, but Leonard stopped at the Glendale Galleria, and they spent several hours walking around the mall, just enjoying each other's company. They stopped briefly, to look into the windows of a jewelry store. Something caught Leonard's eye, but when Penny said she was ready to go, he left with her.

They got back to the apartment around five, then they both took a shower, got dressed and went to an Italian restaurant they had previously gone to. They got home at 8:30, at night, and as they were going up the stairs they ran into Amy and Sheldon, who was carrying a bag, coming down.

"Where are you two off to?" said Penny.

Sheldon's face started to twitch, and Amy quickly said, "We're going to the train store."

"Wait a minute, there aren't open this late on a Sunday," said Leonard.

"Yes, this one is," said Amy, "we were there earlier, and promised to bring in some, ah…ah…yeaah… cookies, yes, train cookies."

Leonard and Penny looked at them both strangely.

"Well," said Amy, "Gotta go," and with that Amy and Sheldon both started back down the stairs.

"Did that seem weird to you?" asked Penny.

"I don't even notice anymore," Leonard.

They finished their walk to the apartment, and Penny went right to the bookcase and pulled out a movie. Turning around, she said, "It's my night to pick the movie,"

Leonard chuckled and walked over to the refrigerator, got a bottle of wine, then poured two glasses. He took them to the couch, sat down, then placed the wine on the coffee table, just as Penny pushed play.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 8:00 AM Monday October 22th 2012**

Penny woke up to her alarm. She shut it off, stretched and then got out of bed. She walked out to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee, then sat at the table.

She was waiting for Leonard. She knew he would come in to say goodbye to her. At 8:25, her door opened and Leonard walked in. He looked surprised, and asked, "What are you doing up?"

"I forgot to tell you," said Penny, "I have a meeting with a guy who may be my publicist. I met a guy, his name is Neil Parker, from their agency in New York, and he told me about this guy, Josh… er… ah… can't think of his name right now. Neil is getting ready to move to a management job, and Josh is young guy, taking over for him, here on the West coast."

"A publicist?"

"Yeah," said Penny, "someone to put out statements if I have something to say about the show, or announce if I get involved in anything new, or someone to offset if I get bad press from somewhere, that sort of thing."

"Ok," said Leonard, "see you tonight." He walked over and kissed her.

After they broke the kiss Penny said, "See you tonight, I love you."

Leonard looked at her and smiled, saying, "I love you," walked to the door, and turned for a last look, before closing the door.

Penny watched him leave, looked at the clock and decided she had time for another cup of coffee before she would have to get ready.


	46. Chapter 45

**A/N I'm putting this up a bit early. I have somewhere to be tonight, and wouldn't get this up until tomorrow. I'm starting to wonder if, with the end of the show, the number of readers will start to diminish. As you'll see, I've made a couple of changes to the parking spot storyline, but the reason should be rather obvious.**

 **Chapter 45**

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 7:00 PM Monday October 22th 2012**

Leonard entered 4B, he was later than usual and was hoping Penny wasn't going to be mad. Penny was waiting on the couch watching TV. "Sorry, I'm late, one of the student needed some help and I didn't get a chance to call…" Suddenly he remembered something, "Wait a minute, weren't you supposed to go over to Bernadette's tonight?"

"Yeah, to look over the wedding album," said Penny. "But she called and said she had something to do, boy did she."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Amy called me," said Penny, "Amy had parked in Howard's place, to claim it for Sheldon. Bernadette called me and said she had Amy's car towed, and now Amy's car has a bunch of scratches on it. Amy said she was going over there. So I thought it best not to get involved, and to just to wait and go to dinner with you. Besides, I leave tomorrow, and want to spend it with you."

"Awwwwww," said Leonard, "that's sweet. So where do you want to go for dinner?"-

"That Indian place?"

"Ok, let's go," said Leonard. They shut off the lights and started down the stairs, going for dinner.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 9:30 PM Monday October 22th 2012**

"So Raj is at the hospital now?" asked Leonard, as him and Penny walked up the stairs.

"Yeah," said Penny, "Amy went over to their house to confront Howard about towing her car, found out about Bernadette being the one, and swung her purse at her."

"What's Raj got to do with it?"

"He was trying to calm both of them down," said Penny. "But when Amy swung at Bernadette, she missed and her purse hit Raj. She had a coffee can of change in her purse."

Leonard was struggling to keep a straight face, "So what's going on now?"

"Well, Raj, Howard and Bernadette went to the hospital," said Penny. "Amy came to get Sheldon to take him to the hospital. He didn't want to go, but Amy was insistent. Told him they were going to settle this thing tonight. So I guess that's what's going on at the hospital."

Leonard was still struggling to keep from laughing as they got to their door. "Oh, by the way," said Leonard, "how did your meeting go today?"

"It went great," said Penny. "I now have a publicist. They guy I talked to today, Josh, works for the main guy, Joe Meyer, who's in New York. I would have someone on each coast. But, sometime in the next few years, Joe is going to move up, into management at the agency. So, Josh will end up being my publicist. I really liked him, he's going to be helpful."

"So, what are we doing the rest of the night?"

"You are going to help me finished packing," said Penny as she opened the door. Entering the apartment she continued, "Then, we are going to make Sheldon use his headsets two or three times, before getting to bed. We have to get up early to get me to the airport, remember."

Leonard grinned at her, closed the door, and pulled her suitcase into the bedroom, put it on her bed, and opened it, to help her finish packing.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 5AM Tuesday October 23th 2012**

Their alarm went off, and Penny shut it off. Both of them got up, Penny started dressing, and Leonard turned the coffee on before getting dressed himself. They finished dressing, and each filled their travel mug, made sure they had everything and left.

There was little talking on the way to the airport, taking them about an hour to get there. They got into the terminal, after parking, at around 6:45. Penny checked in, then they walked to near the security checkpoint, buying some pastries and coffee from a Starbucks close to the checkpoint.

They found a table near security for terminal five and sat down, eating their pastries, drinking their coffee and talking until almost 8:30. It still wasn't filling up yet, but Penny only had another hour and wanted to get to her gate on time. So they rose and walked to the entrance to security.

They stopped, turned to each other and kissed.

After breaking the kiss Penny said, "I guess I don't have to worry about the comic book store, but no kissing grad students."

Leonard nodded, smiled, and said, "And, no kissing your costar, off stage."

Penny shook her head, "I already told you, Dave's married, and Brent holds no interest for me."

"I love you Penny."

"I love you Leonard."

They both smiled, kissed and hugged, then Penny started walking toward security, while Leonard watched. She got into the line, turned and waved at Leonard. Leonard waved back, started walking away. For no reason, he had a surprising urge to turn back around, and look at Penny, so he stopped and turned. Penny looked questionably at him, then smiled, and waved. Leonard smiled, waved again and walked away.

 **Apt 314, NYC, 7PM Tuesday October 23th 2012**

Penny arrived at her apartment, she had trouble sleeping on the plane and was now rather exhausted, but the wanted to be up when Jeanie arrived home. She picked up the package at her door, entered her apartment, and closed the door.

She put the package on the counter then took her suitcases to the bedroom. Coming back to the kitchen, she opened the package and, as expected, it was next week's script. She started making tea, and while waiting for the water to boil, opened her script and started reading.

 **Apt 4B, Pasadena 6PM Tuesday October 23th 2012**

Leonard had left work early, as he wanted to be back to the apartment by 7 PM, expecting to call Penny. He was now at the Galleria Mall, in Glendale, and entering the jewelry store they had looked in this weekend. One of the rings had caught his eye, and he wanted a closer look at it.

He entered the store and explained to the clerk the ring he was looking at. The clerk took him to the window display and Leonard pointed it out. The clerk took it out of the display brought it over, and set the display on the counter.

He was looking at it, the ring itself looked to be either white gold or Platinum. When the clerk handed it to him, he could tell it was platinum, from the heavier feel. The diamond didn't appear to be all that large. Looking it over, he realized what had caught his eye. The diamond was secured with six prongs.

"Aren't six prongs a bit much?" ask Leonard.

"It may seem like it," said the clerk, "but, the setting is for an engagement ring, and is designed for up to a three carrot diamond, so that's why there are six of them."

"What size is this diamond?"

"That is a one-third carat," said the clerk.

Leonard really didn't mind, he was just curious. _Those six prongs are what caught my eye. It makes the setting look like a snowflake, at least to me._ He continued looking, at it, wondering if he would be able to afford it. "How much?"

"That particular one is on sale for $1200," said the clerk.

Leonard continued looking at it, _That's a bit much for me,_ he thought. _Screw it_ , _I'm getting it. The diamond my not be all that big, but that setting is perfect._

"I'll take it," said Leonard reaching for his wallet.

 **Apt 314, NYC 9PM Tuesday October 23th 2012**

Penny was trying to read over her script, and yawning. She had had several cups of tea and she wasn't sure she was going to make it until ten, to get Leonard's call. Then, at nine, there was a knock on her door. She looked out of the peephole and found herself looking at Jeanie. She squealed and opened the door. They were both smiling and started hugging.

Penny led her into the apartment, and had her sit down at the table. She asked her if she wanted some tea and Jeanie nodded and Penny got her a glass. She then sat down and the first thing she asked was how Jeanie's mother was feeling.

Jeanie explained that her mother was going to have surgery a week from Wednesday. The mass turned out to be benign, but her doctor wanted to remove it.

"So, you won't be here next week?" asked Penny.

"I'll be at rehearsal on Wednesday and Thursday this week, come back Monday morning, then leave Monday night, and I'll be back again Friday next week."

"Wow, that's missing a lot," said Penny.

"Not really," said Jeanie. "I'll get my blocking and first run throughs on Thursday, I'll leave Friday afternoon after the first run through."

"What about the taping?"

"I talked to Jim and I'll come back and pre-tape all my scenes on Monday. Get my script then leave and come back on Friday. Tina will call me with my blocking, they'll have a stand in for you guys to work with, and I'll be back on schedule, when I get back on Friday."

Penny thought for a minute, "Ok, yeah, when you explain it, it doesn't seem that bad."

"It won't be, trust me," said Jeanie, "I've been through this before, not for me, but I've see how it works. Now, how about you, how was your week home?

Penny started telling Jeanie about her week, everything she did, and also mentioned she now had a publicist."

"Oh, really, cool," said Jeanie, "you're getting the hang of the business."

Penny shook her head at Jeanie, when she heard her computer Skype tone come on and said. "Excuse me," to Jeanie. Penny answered the Skype call, yawning. "Hi sweetie," she said, "sorry I'm yawning, I'm kinda tired after all the traveling and getting up early."

"I won't keep you up late," said Leonard. Jeanie stood up, "You two talk, I'll see you in the morning."

"You don't have to go, Jeanie," said Penny.

"Yes, I do," said Jeanie, "I'm tired, and I, like you, have to get up in the morning. So, I'll see you around nine, OK?"

"Sound's good, see you tomorrow, bye," said Penny.

"Bye Penny," said Jeanie. "She turned and left the apartment."

Penny turned back to the computer, "Hi sweetie, how are you doing?"

 **Studio 44, NYC 11:30 AM Wednesday October 24th 2012**

The table read had just finished, and there were groups of people standing around the table. Penny was talking with Jeanie and Dave, they were going to do some blocking today, because Jeanie was going to be gone at the end of the week. They saw Kelli walking up to them, and when she got there she said, "Hi, will you two excuse Penelope for a few minutes? We have something to talk about."

They both nodded, and Penny looked at Kelli curiously.

"Come on," said Kelli, turning and walking away. Penny hurriedly caught up to her, walking along side. Kelli didn't say anything and neither did Penny. She kept trying to think of anything that required her to talk to Kelli, but couldn't think of anything.

They got to her office and not only was Jim there, but also Robert Church, who Penny recognized as the head of the CBS studio here, and she began to get nervous.

Jim asked Penny to have a seat, and she sat down nervously. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Penny," Kelli started, "we've gotten an email today, it's about an article that will be appearing in one of the paparazzi papers, the kind you see at checkout counters."

"What's this have to do with me?"

"It's about you," said Jim. "There is someone, we believe on the crew, who has been telling these sleazy type of papers that you have been causing trouble here on the set."

"What?" said Penny in shock. "Other than my struggles learning about the various things…"

"That's exactly it," said Kelli. "The article is accusing you of causing cost overruns, because you don't know what you are doing, we have to reshoot all the time, and shows are being delivered late."

Penny felt sick to her stomach. With tears forming in her eyes, she asked, "Am I? Am I being a problem with the show. I don't want to be." Her tears started running down her checks, "You've been so kind and supportive, if I'm causing trouble…"

"Penny, please, calm down," said Kelli. "You are not causing trouble. You have never caused any kind of cost overruns, nor have any of the shows been late. People are starting to become aware of you, and these type of papers use stuff like this to try and increase their circulation."

Robert Church spoke up, "Penny, we have some clues in the article and we think we know who the person is, who told the lies to the paper. We are going to try to verify who it is, when we do, they will be fired."

Jim was nodding, then said, "They are still going to publish, but we have strenuously denied you are causing or have caused any problems or delays, because you haven't."

"The why did you call me in here?"

"Penny," said Kelli, "we wanted to let you know what was happening. It wouldn't have been fair to let someone surprise you with it. Now, if anyone asks, you can honestly say that we don't have any problems with you and you've been told you are not a problem."

"Thanks," said Penny. She looked thoughtful for a minute, "I just hired a publicist while I was home in California, should I let him know?"

Kelli nodded, "Yes, definitely. As a matter of fact, give me his number and I'll explain it to him."

Penny asked to borrow a piece of paper and a pencil, wrote down the name Josh, and the number, and gave it to Kelli.

"Will you let me know when you call him?"

"Yes," said Jim, "we will."

"By the way, Penny," said Kelli, "That was a nice article in Glamour. You really looked good in it."

Penny blushed, "Thanks, I had fun with Jessica, we giggled a lot during the lunch."

"Well, she made you look good."

"I may need it," said Penny, "if this article is as bad as you say."

Jim said, "I think everything is finished here. If we find out any more, we'll let you know. Go ahead and go back out on the set."

Penny nodded and walked out of the office, toward the set, thinking, _They say I'm not a problem, but I'm going to have to do better. I need to do as well as those articles say I'm doing. I've got to push myself, especially with Jeanie being gone._

 **Caltech Laser Lab,9:30 PM Wednesday October 24th 2012**

Leonard had just finished talking to one of the grad students, his experiment was going along rather well, and he should be ready to run his own experiment in the next couple of weeks.

Leonard was looking at the test results, from the last run of the big laser for his own experiment. The faint reflections were still there, but with no reasonable explanation for them. Leonard was thinking about those faint reflections.

 _Can those faint reactions be low energy particles? New particles? Particles we know about, but haven't seen yet? I haven't heard from Sheldon, maybe I can try some calculations, or talk to Geoff and see if he has any ideas._ He shook his head, starting an email, to get Geoff to call.

 **Studio 44, NYC 2:30 PM Wednesday October 24th 2012**

Penny started walking home, Jeanie was still working on her blocking, and would be coming home later. Penny had promised Jeanie she would have dinner ready for her, so she was planning on stopping at the grocery store, before getting home.

She also had a message to call Josh, Kelli had talked to him and explained what had happened. He wanted to talk to Penny and give her some pointers so when she started getting questions, she would have an answer.

As she walked to the store, she was thinking, _I'll get some spaghetti, salad and bread, that will be for tonight, and I'll get some pork chops, salad, and a vegetable for tomorrow._

 _I'm going to miss Jeanie this weekend, at least she'll be back on Monday, although she'll be gone again until Friday. Time to learn to do this on my own. I'm really going to work at it this week. I'm going to make sure that I get it, so Jeanie is proud, and whoever that asshole is who said something about me, doesn't have another chance._

 **Studio 44, NYC 2:30 PM Thursday October 25th 2012**

Penny was feeling frustrated. She had messed up her lines, _Dammit, this is the second time this morning, I've got to get it on the run through this afternoon._

She _was_ looking around, trying to determine if there was anyone watching her. _I know you're out there, you son-of-a-bitch, just waiting to report on me._

The director, Steve, said it was fine, they would pick it up in the afternoon run through. He wanted to run through Jeanie's scenes again, both before and after lunch, so she would have two extra run throughs, to make up for not being here tomorrow. With nothing else to do, Penny walked back up to her dressing room.

She pulled out her script, and was going over her lines again. _I've got to get this. I can't mess up anymore._ She finished her lines, then went back to the beginning, to start running through her lines again.

As expected, the article had come out and was being spread on Twitter, Facebook, other social media outlets, and in the trade papers, swamping the good article in Glamour. Penny was trying to ignore it, but every time she looked at her phone there was a notification about the bad article, a report on the article, or a tweet about the article, and it was just getting to be too much, as she went back to looking at her script.


	47. Chapter 46

**A/N Yes, there is a lot of Penny here. Don't worry, Leonard will be back in the next chapter. I want to take this time to thank again, my first draft reader, TBBT78 for all her valuable suggestions and comments. Even if I don't use them, (or have to explain how they will be mentioned in future chapters), she causes me to think about where the story is headed. And a big thank you to bfm10 for correcting my typos and silly spellings, and giving me some suggestions. Without bfm10, it would certainly have a lot more errors. I'm actually thinking that I'm less than ten chapters from the end, in first draft. Have got quite a few more than than to publish. Anyway, here ya go.**

 **Chapter 46**

 **Apt 314, NYC 8:30 PM Thursday October 25th 2012**

Penny opened a new bottle of wine, while continuing to study her lines. Jeanie had gotten home from work at almost five. She came home, grabbed her bag, stop to say goodbye to Penny, then caught a cab to Pennsylvania Station, to catch the 8 PM train. She had caught Penny while she was eating, gave Penny her key, and told her to drop her mail off.

Penny was trying to concentrate on her script, but she would get angry at the lies that were being spread about her, and lose concentration. She would finally calm down, and get back to studying, but would lose 15-20 minutes of study time.

She finally gave up studying, and turned on the TV, pouring another glass of wine. She knew she wasn't drunk, but was feeling tipsy when Leonard called at ten. They talked for about a half hour, but Penny let Leonard know she was feeling tired, and wanted to get to bed early. Although disappointed, Leonard didn't let it show, and after exchanging an I love you, they hung up. Penny started getting ready for bed, Leonard going back to his calculations and experimental results.

 **Studio 44, NYC 2:30 PM Friday October 26th 2012**

Jim and Kelli called all the crew over just before ten. After everyone had gathered around, Jim started talking about the article that was appearing today on Penelope. How it was lies, that himself and Kelli have no problem with the job Penelope is doing. That they both were really happy with her job.

He continued, telling everyone an investigation was going on trying to find who leaked those lies to the tabloids. How if they didn't come forward, getting fired may be the least of their problems. He then stressed that if anyone had a problem, they could come and talk to either him, or Kelli, or even Steve, if it was a production problem, and let them solve it.

He asked if there were any questions, and when there were none, he changed subjects. He began telling them that the show's ratings last night, and for the year, were in the middle of the pack. They were high enough to continue, for now, but it didn't appear it was going to be a big breakout show. _Damn, I forgot the show was on last night,_ thought Penny.

Again, Jim asked if there were any questions, and when there were none, he told them to get ready to do the run through. He looked at Penny, smiled and nodded, and she smiled back. As the group broke up, quite a few of the crew came up to Penny, and offered their support of her. She was touched that so many were showing their concern.

As they broke up, most everyone started toward the guys' apartment, where the first scene was to be shot. Penny walked over to the women's apartment, and kept reading her script.

As they did the run through, Penny struggled in places, and was getting extremely frustrated. As they neared the end of the run through, Penny again made an error and yelled out, "What the fuck is wrong with you Penn…elope?" Steve looked at her strangely, which Penny noticed and said, "Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated."

After they finished, Tina brought around some changes. One of her scenes were cut, but two were added. The two that were added were scenes between Penny and Brent, both were given the changes and lunch was called.

Penny grabbed a salad then went to her dressing room. She ate while she added the new pages, transferring a couple of things for other scenes. It didn't take her long, so she was happy about that, but was still frustrated with her mistakes. _It shouldn't be this hard, I've only got four scenes this week, dammit._ She started trying to memorize the changes to her lines.

After lunch, Steve gave Penny and Brent their new blocking, then ran through the scenes a couple of times. After they finished, Steve called a 15 minute break, as they would start the afternoon run through after the break.

Penny got a cup of coffee, and went back to the woman's apartment, where she would start the run through. She was going over her script when she heard Brent say, "Penelope, I feel bad for you, that you have to go through that kind of bullshit. You've had your problems, but it hasn't slowed anything down, and you keep working to get better. We all screw up, so just try to ignore those outside people."

Penny had had a slight suspicion that it was Brent who had passed along the problems that were reported. But, she really didn't have any proof, so she just said, "Thanks, Brent. I'm going to work my ass off, to prove whoever did it, wrong."

Brent smiled and said, "That's the attitude, go get them." He turned and walked toward the guys' apartment. Penny watched him walk away, _Maybe he wasn't the one. He hasn't been that bad the last few weeks._ She shook her head, and went back to studying her script.

 **Studio 44, NYC 4:00 PM Friday October 26th 2012**

They had finished the afternoon run through, Penny was waiting around, as Steve said he wanted to run through the added scenes again. She had also erupted in anger twice, after messing up her lines once, and blocking the other time.

Steve had finished with Dave, and called Penny and Brent over to him. Steve asked them to move over to the guys' apartment, and as they walked, he explained, "Penelope, one thing, you need to move in closer to Brent for both of these scenes. It's the same problem you had a couple of weeks ago."

Penny nodded, "Ok, I'll work on it, but do we really need to rerun it? I don't want to keep Brent around for something that isn't his fault."

"It's no problem, Penelope," said Brent. "If we need to work on it, we'll work on it."

"Besides," said Steve, "there's another problem. Your interactions look a bit forced, so we want to work on that also. It makes it easier for you if you are working on it together."

Penny nodded and they continued to the guys' apartment, ready to try to get their interactions right.

Penny was still struggling, so they spent a couple of extra hours working on all of that, trying to get everything worked out. Finally, Steve said, "OK, that's it. I think we got it. Penelope, Brent, the two of you should run through your scenes, if you can find some time, to try to get your interactions right."

Both Brent and Penny looked at each other, and nodded, then both headed for their dressing rooms, to gather their things and leave.

 **Apt 314, NYC 8:30 PM Friday October 26th 2012**

Penny was trying to study her script, but she her mind was churning over the events of the day. After leaving the studio, Penny went to the store first, buying some food for the weekend. She also bought a few bottles of wine. She came home, made dinner, then started working on her script.

She took a large swig of the wine while thinking. _I shouldn't be making those damn little mistakes, anymore. And why the hell can't I get this thing down with Brent? Not to mention I'm now told our interactions look forced. What the hell does that even mean, and how do I fix it?_

 _Oh Leonard, I could so use a visit with you right now. You always know what to tell me, to calm me down._ She took another drink, reached for the bottle and poured another glass. She turned to the clock and looked at it. _Let's see, it's 8:30 so it's 5:30 there. He should be on his way home, maybe I'll call him around 9:30, I just need to talk to him._ Penny turned back to her script, and began studying again.

 **Apt 314, NYC 8:30 AM Saturday October 27th 2012**

Penny rolled over, opened her eyes and groaned. Her head hurt, and her mouth was dry. _What the hell did I do last night?_ Penny was trying to put it together. She had called Leonard, but he hadn't answered, making her sad. With nothing to do, she started watching TV, and kept drinking. _That's it, I should have stopped._

Then she finally remembered, Leonard had been working on some calculations, at CalTech, and was running late. By the time he called, Penny was closer to drunk, than to tipsy, and Leonard noticed. Penny was telling him about the mistakes, the article, and she was getting angrier and angrier.

Leonard was able to calm her down, and they managed to have a rather enjoyable "Skype" session. Penny was feeling more relaxed, but she was still angry at herself, and a bit drunk. Leonard mentioned her being drunk, which she cut off quickly. They went on to talk about a few other things, before ending the call saying I love you to each other. Penny had managed to end the call without him noticing her anger.

Being upset, made her want some more wine, so she went back out into the living room, opened another bottle and tried to watch some TV, while she sipped on her wine. She found Home Shopping Network, sat watching that, drinking wine until she realized she had fallen asleep on the couch. She turned off the TV, stumbled to her bedroom and crawled into bed.

Fortunately, she didn't have to be in today, so she took her time getting out of bed. She went through her morning rituals, taking two aspirin, and was now sipping on a cup of coffee. While her mouth was no longer dry, she still had a headache, _those aspirin should take care of the headache and being hungover again,_ she thought, _God, I've got to stop that._

She saw some papers on her coffee table and went over to take a look. Looking through the printed sheets, she again realized that wine, a credit card, and late night TV was a bad combination. Perhaps she could send most of it back.

 **Studio 44, NYC 10:30 AM Monday October 30th 2012**

Penny popped two more aspirin into her mouth, and washed it down with the last of the coffee in her travel mug. _At least I'm not all that hungover this morning._

Penny was thinking about her weekend, the hangover on Saturday, and spending, with Jeanie gone, most of the day lonely, wanting to talk to Leonard. But she found out with Amy gone to a weekend conference, Leonard was tasked with taking Sheldon around all day Saturday.

To combat the loneliness, she went out on her own. Going back to the Ph-d nightclub and actually starting the night having a good time. She had limited her drinks to two, and had fast danced with a couple of guys, and another group of women. The good time lasted until that one guy tried to kiss her. She slapped him, then left for home, angry.

After arriving home, she found out she missed Leonard's call, adding frustration to her anger. She had a few more glasses of wine, before stumbling to her bedroom, and passing out.

She was again hung over on Sunday, and, although feeling lonely again, managed to make it through the day. The three calls to Leonard, throughout the day, had prevented her from feeling sad and drinking as heavily as she had the previous night. But she was still suffering from some light hangover feelings, just not as bad as the previous two days.

 **Studio 44, NYC 11:30 AM Monday October 30th 2012**

The entire crew was waiting for Jeanie to arrive, so they could do a quick run through, then shoot her scenes. Kelli had come over to Penny, reminding her that she had another interview tomorrow, at 4 PM, an hour before she had to get ready for the taping. Penny nodded, telling Kelli she remembered.

Just then, Jeanie arrived and everyone started to get ready for the run through, prior to the pre-shoots.

After the run through, the other three actors pre-shot their scenes with Jeanie, so she wouldn't have to be at the taping. This left Penny with just three scenes to shoot on taping night, two of them with Brent, one with Dave.

After the pre-shoots were finished, Brent came over to ask if she wanted to run through their scenes to make sure they were ready for the taping tomorrow. Penny nodded, thanked Brent, then they went to find Steve. A half hour later, they were finished. She went to her dressing room, looked around, and seeing everything was put away, shut off the light, and left.

 **Studio 44, NYC 7:15 PM Tuesday October 31th 2012**

Penny was looking through her new script, it had been delivered during their break in shooting. Of course, it was quite early tonight, as with all the scenes they had shot on Monday, there weren't that many tonight. Penny had finished the interview, just before getting ready for the taping.

Penny only had one more scene to shoot. It was her second scene with Brent. Her scene with Dave went very well, but her first scene with Brent didn't. Steve had called them over and wanted to shoot again. While it looked natural to Steve, she was still leaning away a bit and he wanted to reshoot it.

It took a fourth take to get it, and then the break had come. Her last scene was going to be near the end of the show, so to kill time, she had picked up her new script, and started reading. As she looked through, it was obvious that this was going to be a major episode with Hunk and Jess. Penny saw five scenes with only her and Brent, and a couple of others with her, Brent, and someone else.

She was finally called down to the set for her last scene, and again, there was a problem between her and Brent. This time it only took three takes, but it had been for the same reasons. After the scene, Steve reminded them of working through the scenes together, before moving on to the next scene. They finally finished the taping, took their bows, and then went to their dressing rooms. Penny took off her makeup, changed into her own clothes and headed over to Jake's.

 **Jakes, NYC 8:15 PM Monday October 31th 2012**

Jim and Kelli were already there when Penny walked in. While Jim went to get her a drink, Penny sat down and Kelli asked about her problems with the scenes with Brent. Her and Jim were concerned because of all the scenes they knew were coming the next week.

Jim had returned, and mentioned that if there was some kind of a problem, they really needed to go over their lines together, to get comfortable with each other, Kelli nodding her agreement with Jim. Penny simply said she really didn't know why, but thought working through those scenes together might help.

Just then, Tina, Dave, his wife, and Brent walked in, and came to the table. Tina sat on one side of Penny, Dave on the other, with Brent across the table from Penny. Jim got up to get them their drinks, and brought them back to the table. Tina and Penny were in conversation, as were Dave and Brent, all four about how the production had gone that night.

Tina was asking Penny what she felt was the problem with her and Brent's scenes and again said she really didn't know. Tina suggested that to solve it, they really needed to go over and work through the scenes together, run lines together, to try and work through it.

At that Penny heard Brent say, "Hey, Penny."

She turned and looked up at him, it was the first time he had called her Penny. She also noticed Brent was standing over Dave's chair, Dave had gotten up, and was walking towards the men's room.

"Did you see all the scenes we have next week?" Brent said, looking down at her.

Penny nodded.

Brent sat down, put his arm on Penny's chair, and leaned into her, so he could be heard over the noise. "How about coming over tonight to work on them?" asked Brent. "After all, we got out of there early tonight, and we have a couple of hours. Maybe if we go over it, we won't have the problems we've been having."

Penny was thinking, _Tina, Kelli and Jim all suggested it, Brent suggested it, I wonder if Jeanie would suggest it? I wish Jeanie was here._ It was then that Penny noticed everyone was looking at her, waiting for her answer.

 _Well, since people other than Brent suggested it, maybe it won't hurt to run through them. Fifteen or so minutes on each scene, talk about it a bit, and I'll get out of there in a couple of hours._ _Brent hasn't been creepy lately, and actually has seemed supportive._

Penny nodded, smiled and said, "Yeah, that might not be a bad idea, how about I finish this glass of wine, and then we can go. I don't want to be too late. It's nine now, so a couple of hours of work would get me home by midnight, how's that?"

"That would be great."

"What?" said Penny, not hearing Brent as several people, in the bar, started yelling. She leaned into Brent to hear him.

Brent leaned in to repeat what he had said. At that moment, there was a flash, causing Penny to blink, then a couple more flashes, it appeared that someone had taken a picture of the table. That had happened several times before, and as usual, Penny scowled, as did Jim and Kelli. Brent and Dave stood, as a man and woman ran off.

"Damn Paps" said Brent as he and Dave sat back down and everyone at the table agreed.

Penny and Brent finished their drinks and a half an hour later, they were in a cab, on their way to Brent's apartment.

After arriving, Penny was looking over his upper west side apartment, as he showed her around. She had to admit it was really nice, as he had it decorated rather tastefully. Finally, he suggested they get to work, since Penny didn't want to stay too late, and they walked back to the living room.

He asked her if she wanted anything to drink, and she said a small glass of wine. He walked to his makeshift bar, and Penny leaned over to get her script out of her bag. She couldn't find it at first, then finally found it at the bottom. Grabbing it, she sat back up and saw Brent walking toward her.

He handed her a small glass of wine, put his beer on the table, then sat down across from her and her open script on the coffee table between them. He reached back and grabbed his script, and putting it on the table, asked, "Where do you want to start?"


	48. Chapter 47

**A/N OK, here we go. This chapter is one of the main reasons this is rated M. There are some graphic descriptions here. Not sexually graphic, per se, but graphic descriptions that are sex related. I've also been told, by one of my beta readers, that I need to point out that this could possibly trigger some people, so consider this a warning. I've put a two lines like this:**

 ********Graphic*********

 **at the beginning, and the end, of the part with the graphic descriptions. If you feel that graphic descriptions may cause you problems, please skip that part, of this chapter. There will be another A/N at the end.**

 **Chapter 47**

 **Caltech, Pasadena 6 PM Tuesday October 30th, 2012**

Leonard had just started home, bringing Sheldon with him. This had become unusual, as Amy had been picking him up on a regular basis, since Leonard had been working late, trying to understand the random reflections, and their shapes, he was seeing in the data.

Sheldon had been going on about something, Leonard wasn't paying attention as he continued to think about his data. Finally Sheldon shouted, "Leonard, are you listening to me?"

Sheldon's shout had gotten Leonard's attention, but he just said, "No, Sheldon, I'm not. I'm thinking about my experiment and the data. It's not making sense to me, so can you keep quiet, so I can think?"

"Well, I suppose I could," said Sheldon, "but wouldn't it be better if you asked me for help? After all, I am more well versed in this than you, and I've got a much higher IQ."

"That's not true and you know it," said Leonard. "Both our IQs can't be measured accurately, and with the error bars, there is a possibility I could actually have a higher IQ than you do."

Sheldon looked offended, but Leonard continued, "Besides, I asked you to look at it a couple of months ago, and you haven't gotten back to me. You said your search for an assistant was more important. Well, you have your assistant, did you look over it yet?"

"No, I haven't," said Sheldon. "Can you give me a reason why I should?"

"Well, you said you would look it over, for me," said Leonard. "And, you know, we might win a Nobel."

Sheldon snorted and looked at Leonard strangely, "Leonard," said Sheldon, "you know you aren't up to the theoretical work. Why do you put yourself up as an equal to me?"

"I'm not talking about me," said Leonard. "I'm referring to Geoff and his group at Oxford. What if my work leads to something that wins a Nobel? How would you feel if Geoff, or one of his associates, took the data, and ideas, figured it out, and won a Nobel? Think of it, you lost out on your dream, because you thought you thought you were too good to consider helping with my idea, on a group you could have been part of."

Leonard could see out of the corner of his eye that the last remark hit home. Sheldon's face was twitching. Finally, he said, "Ok, when we get home, why don't you show me what you have, so I can show you where you're wrong. Such as your last sentence, which you ended with a preposition."

Leonard rubbed his right cheek, to hide his smile. "OK, Sheldon, we'll do that."

 **Apr 4A 9 PM Tuesday October 30th, 2012**

It had been over two hours since Leonard had started explaining his results, and his ideas to Sheldon. As Leonard had expected, Sheldon had quickly grasped what he had been trying to do with both the results and the theoretical side.

There were papers scattered on the table and on the couch, there were some papers they had printed out, and they had set three white boards up and those were now covered with arcane symbols, representing the math Leonard thought might explain the results.

"So, what you are trying to do," said Sheldon, "is find a way to use the shape of the reflections, as a way to verify numerical methods in use, to calculate particle interactions."

"It seems you are also trying to find a way to calculate the reflection shape for gravitons, but that doesn't work, because we can't renormalize the calculations with a spin two particle like the graviton, because we end up with infinities we can't remove."

"Yes," said Leonard, "That's basically it. But, what if we were able to find a way to limit those infinities? Could it then be, at least, an effective theory?"

"It very well could. So far, you've been able to roughly calculate the shapes of the reflections for each particle."

"Well," said Leonard, "individual particles, like the electron or a neutrino are simple. I'm still struggling with the math for the composite particles, like the proton, neutron, and all of the other particles composed of quarks."

"I was hoping you, with your deeper theoretical background, would be able to see what I was doing wrong, and possibly figure out what was wrong with my approach. For all I know, everything is wrong and you'll have to come up with something entirely different."

Sheldon continued to look over the boards and a few of the papers. Another few glances at the experimental results and he stopped and looked at Leonard. "I must say, that this is really impressive work Leonard."

Leonard looked shocked, he wasn't sure if he heard correctly, "Wait, what?"

"I said, this is really impressive work."

"I don't think you've ever said my work was impressive."

"It's rather rudimentary," said Sheldon, "but for an experimentalist, not to mention, you, it's impressive."

"That's the Sheldon I know."

"I'm not sure the spurious reflections really mean anything," said Sheldon, "as they are very weak, indicating they could just be second or third order reflections. On the other hand, they could be a reflection of one of the very weak particles. We know that gravity is a very weak force, have you thought about those reflections being the graviton?"

Leonard was surprised, he had simply assumed a second or third order reflection and had not really put the idea of weak reflection and unknown shape together with the idea for a graviton.

"You may have something there," said Leonard. "I hadn't thought about it that way before."

"Of course you hadn't," said Sheldon, "you're not a theorist, so why would you think about it?"

"Well, how about I leave this with you," said Leonard. "Work on it some, look at the shapes and maybe see if you can get the shape and calculation to match. After a few weeks, get back with me if you think you have a solution to the problem, and you think this is something that is worth pursuing. Or, maybe, you think you have a better idea."

"I'll do what I can, give me a month or so."

"Thanks, Sheldon," said Leonard. "Well, I'm off to bed, it's been a long day."

"Aren't you expecting a call from Penny?"

"Penny has a taping tonight," said Leonard, "so she won't be calling tonight." With that, Leonard gathered his papers, gave them to Sheldon, and walked up the hallway to his bedroom.

 **NY 5:30 AM Wednesday October 31st 2012**

Penny slowly opened her eyes, trying to focus. Things were blurry, so she blinked a couple of times, but the blurriness didn't go away and she still couldn't make out where she was. _Oh God, too much again last night._ She was trying to piece the night together. _There was the interview…the taping… then out to Jake's, with Jim Kelli, Tina, Dave and Brent, as usual…then…I was supposed to go somewhere else…where?_

She tried to lift her head, but she became dizzy and let her head drop to the pillow, closing her eyes. She groaned as the familiar feelings of being hung over coursed through her. Her head hurt, her mouth was dry, and she now knew she was dizzy and her vision was blurry and on top of that, she was nauseous.

The dizziness, blurry eyes, and nausea were new. _I haven't felt those before,_ _I must have really drank way, way too much last night._ Penny tried to shake her head, to clear it, but the pain was so bad she stopped.

Leaving her head on the pillow, she slowly opened her eyes. While it was still blurry, she could now make out a plain white ceiling, instead of her pink ceiling, which puzzled her. _Why am I in Jeanie's guest room, and how did I get here?_ She tried again to sit up, and another wave of dizziness and nausea passed over her, so she let her head fall back on the pillow again.

Looking to her left, it was with a shock, she realized it wasn't Jeanie's guest room. "Where the hell am I?" she groaned, still groggy and still trying to piece the previous night together. And, now, through her dizziness and nausea, she was trying to figure out where she was.

 *******************Graphic************

Penny brushed back her hair, and then tried to rub her eyes. Her palms rubbed something that seemed to be around her mouth. She stopped rubbing her eyes, they were no clearer than they were earlier so her hand moved to brush around her mouth, but whatever it was, stayed on her face.

 _I have to get up._ Penny finally managed to sit up, even though all the different feelings of being hung over were still there. She threw back the covers and looked down, finding she was nude. _What the hell? Where are my clothes?_ Her brain was still groggy, but she was nude and didn't know where she was, and Penny was starting to get scared. She tried to slide to the edge of the bed, but the feeling of something damp under her, froze her. While she was still groggy, her mind was working enough to realize what it might be, and she was starting to panic.

 _NO. Oh God, no._ She slid back and toward the edge of the bed. Looking down at where she been laying, on the bed, was an unmistakable damp spot. Running her right hand over it, feeling it's stickiness, she was horrified, now knowing exactly what it was. _Noooooooooooooo. No, please no._ She jerked backwards, and was rewarded with another wave of pain in her head. Letting her legs hang over the edge of the bed, she slowly lowered them to the floor. She pushed up, and although unsteady, and dizzy, she was able to stay standing. Turning, she could now see the nude body of Brent, over covers she had thrown back, laying on the other side of the bed.

Her legs weakened and she fell on the bed, her head hanging over the foot. A fresh wave of nausea hit her, but for another reason entirely. She could feel the bile rising in her throat. Though she tried to stop it, the vomit erupted out of her mouth, splashing onto the floor, then a second spasm sent more out of her mouth.

Her eyes were tearing as she rolled over on her back. Her mind was still in a fog. _Just let me get home, it will all be better if I can get home._ With her legs still hanging over the side of the bed, she inched that way, until her feet hit the floor. She again managed to stand, although unsteadily.

Penny saw the bathroom, and started walking toward it.

It was a struggle, but she was able to get to the bathroom door, just as she started falling. She grabbed the trim to help her stay upright, and this enabled her to reach and hold onto the sink, which helped her get to the toilet. She managed to sit before falling and took some toilet paper, and wiped herself.

Through her tears and blurred vision, she looked at the toilet paper and confirmed what her foggy brain had been telling her. She dropped the paper into the toilet, and tried to get up. It took two tries, but she was finally able to rise, and make it to the sink.

She looked into the mirror, and could see the dried material around her mouth, and now knew what it was. Breaking into heavy sobs, she turned on the water, and started to scrub her face. _I have to get it off. If I scrub it off it didn't happen, it can't have happened._ Penny looked in the mirror, it looked like everything that had been there, was now off, but she could still feel it, in her mind, thinking her scrubbing had done nothing.

She rinsed the taste of her vomit out of her mouth, but didn't bother to dry her face, and just stumbled back into the bedroom. On the chair and the floor next to the bed, she saw her clothes through her blurry eyes. She unsteadily walked to the chair, found her bag, and saw her script in it. At that, something tugged at her memory, but her brain still wasn't working right.

 ********************Graphic***************

She tried to put on her bra, but she couldn't reach back to hook it. She finally just put on her blouse over it and just stuffed her panties into her bag. When she tried to pull her jeans on, she almost fell over. Sensing something was wrong with her balance, she sat down. This enabled her to get her jeans on and then put her shoes on. Finally she threw her coat around her, using it to fully cover her. She was now sobbing and just wanted to get home.

Grabbing her bag, she stumbled to the door, realizing that she had no idea how to get out of this apartment. She walked through the bedroom door, and though her sight was still blurry, she saw she was in what appeared to be a living room.

Penny's lack of balance came close to causing her to fall backward, but even in her state, she managed to stay standing. _I can't stay here, I have to get home. Please let this be a dream, please don't let this be real._ She found what looked, to her, like the front door, and opened it. It led to a hallway, with an elevator at one end. Stumbling out of Brent's apartment, she didn't even close the door, and keeping her hand on the wall to steady herself, she made her way to the elevator.

Pushing the call button, she waited, sobbing. When the elevator arrived, she managed to get in and looked at the panel. She couldn't find a "1" on it, but did see a button marked "L". Hoping it would take her to the lobby, she pushed it and the doors closed.

She almost fell, as the elevator began it's decent, but grabbed the railing to keep her standing. After the elevator came to a stop, the doors opened to what appeared to be, through her blurred vision, an elegant lobby, but Penny didn't care. Trying to get out of the building, the blurriness was made worse with her eyes brimming with tears.

She managed to hail a taxi, and get in. The cabbie waited, finally saying, "Where to lady?".

Penny was trying to come up with her address, but it wouldn't come. She started sobbing lightly, and the driver said, "You okay, lady?"

"I'm fine," lied Penny.

"Then give me the address."

Penny was still confused, but something came to her, and she finally gave the driver her address.

The driver turned back and leered at Penny, then chuckled, "I don't think you are fine, but you're not walking so I'm guessing this is a ride of shame and regret."

Penny realized that her coat was open, and as she hadn't buttoned her blouse, that was open too, giving the driver a good view of most of her breasts, as her bra wasn't hooked. She gritted her teeth, pulled her coat around her tightly and said, "Just shut the fuck up and get me home as fast as you can. I said I'm fine."

"Ok, Ok, yeesh," said the driver, "can't even make a joke." She felt the cab increase it's speed. As she rode along, she tried to remember what had happened the night before, but couldn't remember anything. It came to her that this was eerily similar to what had happened with Raj, except she knew she , this time, she had actually had sex. She gave up trying to remember, and just softly sobbed.

After what seemed like an eternity, the driver stopped and said, "Here ya, go, that's Twenty-one dollars."

Penny dug through her bag, still having trouble seeing and pulled out a twenty and a ten and gave them to the cabbie, and not wanting to wait, told him to keep it, as she got out. She walked, still unsteadily, toward her building's door. While she able to hold herself up, using the door knob, she was still having trouble seeing. However, she managed to punch in her code into the electronic door look, and open the door.

She managed to work the elevator with no problems but when she made it to her apartment, she struggled with the key, as her blurry eyes still made seeing difficult, but she finally managed to get her door open. Throwing her things on the couch, she slammed the door, locked all the deadbolts, then stumbled to her bed. She fell on it, finally breaking down, and beginning to cry uncontrollably.

She wasn't sure how long it had been, but her crying finally subsided. She looked over to her nightstand to check the time, and seeing it was 6:45 thought, _I have less than three hours to try to get some sleep._ As she was turning back, she caught sight of the picture of Leonard next to her clock radio.

She felt ill again, and cried out, "Leonard, I'm so sorry. Sorry. Sorry, please forgive me Leonard, I'm sorry". She could feel the tears start to come, and as she again began to cry uncontrollably, she buried her face in her pillow, crying until she fell asleep.

 **End of Part II**

 **A/N I'm a bit worried here. This is a rough one, I know and it wasn't easy to write, either. Parts of quite a few of the following chapters aren't a walk in the park, and haven't been much easier, and in some cases, more difficult to write. All of this was foreseen when I started, due to this being a prequel, and being somewhat locked into what was written in the other story. I did warn everyone, back in the prologue, that it would be different. I was worried about this plot twist causing some readers to abandon this, I'm hoping you'll stick around, as it's not all doom and gloom, and there are a few other twists to come, but we'll see what everyone thinks. Also, in case you missed it, this is the end of Part II.**


	49. Chapter 48

**A/N This one has a graphic section, although it isn't marked as last chapter (If you want to skip it, it's where Brent starts talking, and then the next eight paragraphs). Many of the following chapters have difficult sections, but I won't warn you, from here on out, unless it's going to be particularly graphic. Thanks to those who sent PMs saying they are sticking around, cause they want to see what happens. Thanks to those who reviewed, even as a guest. And, to those fathers, in the US, Happy Father's day.**

 **Chapter 48**

 **Apt 314, NY 8:40 AM Wednesday October 31th, 2012**

The sound finally penetrated, and was getting louder. Penny rolled over, and was rewarded with a flash of pain through her head. She groaned, and reached for her phone, to shut off the alarm. She opened her eyes and things were blurry, but she managed to shut off the alarm.

She slowly sat up and was wondering why she was wearing her clothes, and why her blouse was unbuttoned, when the events from earlier in the morning came crashing down on her. Tears started welling up in her eyes, and all she wanted to do was to lay back down and cry.

She forced herself to sit up, then get up out of the bed and try to drive those thoughts out of her mind, so she could concentrate on getting ready for work. She was still a bit unsteady, but was able to walk to her kitchen, where she turned on the coffee machine before making her way back to the bathroom, where she turned on shower, then began to get undressed.

Stepping into the shower, she planned to let the hot water just beat on her for five minutes. But, she started washing almost immediately, and then began scrubbing herself, trying desperately to get any trace of Brent off of her. She continued scrubbing until her arms, legs, and chest were sore.

Finally, she shut off the water and started drying herself off. As she dried herself, she discovered why she was sore, her legs, arms and chest were red, and even scratched in some places from how vigorously she had scrubbed herself.

Looking in the mirror, and seeing her face, the guilt for what had happened surfaced and weighed her down. She would start to tear up, then dry her eyes with the towel, then try to force the tears back. She dressed and went out to the kitchen to get some coffee.

She poured a cup and sat at the table, but she couldn't force the earlier events out of her mind. As she sat there sipping her coffee, she felt overwhelming guilt again, and tears started streaming down her face. She was brought back to the present by the alarm on her phone, telling her it was time to get ready to leave. She quickly wiped her eyes and face, blew her nose, then started gathering her things together.

She refilled her coffee, put her computer and script in her bag and left her apartment, locking her door. It took an extra five minutes to get to the studio today. Penny was still achy, had a headache, making her a bit unsteady, and with tears forming every so often, she had to stop to wipe her eyes. When she finally arrived at the studio, she managed to avoid talking to anyone, on the way to her dressing room.

She was struggling. Along with the headache, she was also tearing up often, she hadn't gotten much sleep and was a little groggy , still a little nauseated. She took a couple of aspirin, and downed a full bottle of water. Then, she washed her face and started applying some makeup.

She concentrated on applying the makeup, and was trying not to look at herself in the mirror, because she knew if she caught her own eye, the guilt would again overwhelm her and bring tears to her eyes. She finally felt she looked presentable enough, and wanting to get to the table before anyone else, she left her dressing room early so she could stop and get some coffee before getting down to the table.

She got her coffee, found her normal place at the table, and started highlighting her lines. By the times everyone was gathered around the table, Penny had finished highlighting her lines.

She continued looking at her script, when she felt the table move. She looked up to see Brent, looking directly at her, with a half smile, half leering look on his face. She quickly dropped her eyes, she felt nauseated, but forced it down and continued looking at her script until Jim arrived and they started the table read.

 **Studio 44, NY 11:40 AM Wednesday October 31th, 2012**

The table read had finished about ten minutes ago, and Penny had had a lot of problems during the read. Her teary eyed vision, headache, and nausea had made it difficult to concentrate. She had missed a few lines, and had made some not so great choices in the reading of her lines.

She was hoping to get out of there without talking to anyone, so Penny was acting as if she was working on finishing the highlighting of her script, while sneaking looks around, trying to find Brent. She was trying to avoid him at all cost, and when she couldn't spot him with her quick looks, she closed her script, rose and quickly headed for her dressing room.

On the way, walking up the stairs, she saw the cast picture of Brent, and again became nauseous. She tried to force it down, but it became stronger. She hurried to her dressing room and managed to make it to the toilet and fall to her knees, before vomiting.

It was several spasms before she finally finished, and then got to her feet and moved over to her sink and began washing out her mouth. When she finished, she packed everything in her bag, shut off her light and left her dressing room, trying to get out of there as fast as possible. A few of the crew said "bye" to her as she left, but no one stopped her. She made it out of the studio, and walked quickly home.

 **Apt 314, NY 10:30 PM Wednesday October 31th, 2012**

Penny was laying on her couch, the TV on, but she wasn't watching it. After getting home from the table read, she had desultorily gone over her script, not really concentrating. Most of her hangover symptoms were gone, but she gave up working on her script, because she still had a headache.

She took two more aspirin, then tried taking a nap, but what had happened early this morning kept coming back to her. She finally gave up on the nap and went back to working on her script, but the shame and guilt didn't lessen, and finally, at six, she decided to make dinner.

Penny tried to concentrate on making dinner, a salad, a pork chop and some broiled cheese toast. But, cooking was as useless as everything else was, in trying to get her mind off of what had happened this morning. She debated having some wine, but remembering this morning, decided against it.

She was picking at her food, she was still upset and not really hungry, but she forced herself to eat. After finishing, she did the dishes and tried to watch some TV, but again, all she could think about was what had happened this morning.

At nine, she decided to get a relaxing bath, and then start getting ready for bed. She had been in the tub for 45 minutes before getting out. She dried herself off, put on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She had just checked all the locks on her door, and went back to the couch, to watch some more TV.

While the TV was on, she wasn't really watching, when she heard Leonard's ringtone, on her computer. She froze, looking at her computer, _I can't talk to him, I can't. Not now, not yet, I'll start crying, I know it. Then he'll ask me what's wrong and I'll break down. I just can't face him._

She tried to ignore the tone until it thankfully stopped, after only two more rings. After a few seconds, she heard the tone on the phone start again, and ignoring it was more difficult this time.

When it stopped, she picked up her phone, turned the volume down, so she couldn't hear anymore calls. She turned off the last light and walked to her bedroom. As she was setting her alarm, the phone indicated she had a message from Leonard.

She hesitated, not really wanting to hear his voice tonight. But, remembering the second call, almost immediately after the first call, she was worried that it might be an emergency, so she brought up the message and started playing it.

She heard Leonard's voice, "Hi Penny, just thinking about you tonight. Is everything OK with you? Just wondering, because you didn't answer. I thought I'd call, because this is Halloween. I was remembering our first kiss. You came over from your party, upset because Kurt was there. I told you I thought you were perfect, and you kissed me. And I want you to know, I still believe you're perfect. I hope everything is OK. Talk to you later, I love you."

Guilt and shame again overwhelmed her and tears started filling her eyes. _I've got to face it, I'm not perfect, I'm a skank. Amy called it the skank reflex. I don't deserve someone as good as him._ As she set the phone down, she saw Leonard's picture, and she started loudly sobbing. She ended the day, as she had begun it, in her bed, crying herself to sleep.

 **Apt 4A, Pasadena, 7:30 PM Wednesday October 31th, 2012**

Leonard was looking at his phone. _I wonder why she didn't answer, and hasn't called back? It's not like Penny to not answer on a Wednesday night. Maybe she's at Jeanie's and left her phone at home. Maybe she'll call me later, when she gets the message._

Leonard put down his phone, shrugged and turned back to the whiteboard. He went back to working on the equations, but wasn't making any progress because he kept thinking about Penny. After about a half an hour, he gave up, and turned on the TV.

 **Studio 44, NY 9:50 AM Thursday Nov 1st 2012**

Penny was walking down from her dressing room, to get a cup of coffee before they started blocking. She was still yawning as, again, she hadn't gotten much sleep. She running over the shame and guilt in her mind, over what had happened, kept her awake for most of the night.

She got her coffee and walked to her directors chair, sitting down and looking at her lines. Jim, Kelli and Tina came out and went over the plan for the day, blocking, rehearsal and a run through. Jeanie was still in Boston, with her mother, and would be back on Friday. Meanwhile, Tina was writing Jeanie's blocking and reading her lines in rehearsal.

Penny walked over to the guy's apartment with dread. She had four scenes with Brent, in the guys apartment, and they were going to block and rehearse those first. As she approached the set, she could see Brent and again he had a half smile, half leer on his face.

She tried to ignore him, and concentrate on her script to keep from being reminded of Tuesday night, by being so near Brent. Steve, the director, and several other production crew arrived and Steve started giving the actors their blocking. They got through the first two scenes, and there was a call for Steve to come to Kelli and Jim's office. So he called a ten minute break and left.

Penny was working on her script, erasing and writing her blocking in neatly, as Jeanie had taught her, when she heard "Penelope?"

She turned to see Brent, just behind her, and he said, "Hey, where did you run off to the other morning?"

Although she had evaded Brent the previous morning, she was stuck with him now, and decided to ask him what had happened. "What the hell, Brent?" Said Penny angrily. "How could you take advantage of me, like that?"

"Why the hell are you mad at me?" said Brent, sounding surprised. "Take advantage of you? You kept asking for another drink, almost every time we finished a scene. After we finished running over all the scenes, you were the one that was all over me."

"I couldn't have done that," said Penny in disbelief. "Dammit, Brent, you know I have a boyfriend, how could you?"

"According to you," said Brent, "he's too short and you said you couldn't wait to finally get laid by someone who was tall and had muscles."

Penny was shocked, she couldn't believe it, "Bullshit."

"No, it's not," said Brent derisively. "You're the one that practically ripped my pants off, in the living room. You said you wanted to suck me off first, because the guy could go longer the second time."

Penny paused, it did sound like something she did when she was younger and was with someone new. She had some dim memory of sitting on a couch, working on a belt and pulling a zipper down. But, she couldn't remember if it was that night or some other time in her past Her eyes were filling with tears, the shame and guilt, from the other morning returning in full.

All in all, she was furious, at both Brent and herself, but didn't want to either cause a scene or give Brent any satisfaction. She turned quickly and walked to her chair in the center of the set, with a lot of people around.

It appeared she was looking down at her script, but she wasn't really doing anything, except blinking back the tears and thinking. Thinking now, that it had all been her fault. It sounded like it was Raj all over again. She got drunk, she had come on to Brent, she was the one to blame.

She hadn't noticed that Steve had walked in front of her, back to the guy's set. He looked around and yelled, "Penelope, where are you, we're ready."

Penny looked up and walked over to the set, her frustration boiling over and said to Steve, angrily, "Why didn't you let me know when you came back? I was sitting in my chair, I would think you would have noticed."

Steve was taken aback by her tone and her eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't see you. Are you OK, Penelope? You look like you are upset."

Penny tried to control her voice, "I'm sorry Steve, just a bit tired, I didn't mean to snap at you." She turned and wiped her eyes.

"That's all right," said Steve, "just forget about it." He called Penny and Brent over to him and he went back to laying out the blocking for the two scenes they hadn't finished. Then he had them run through each scene several times.

Penny, remembering what Jeanie had told her about keeping her actions professional, did her best to think of nothing but her blocking and lines to try to keep all her emotions in check, while working near Brent. She remembered to lean in more, even though being so near him, made her ill.

She managed to get through the blocking of the last two scenes and running through all four scenes, without breaking down or snapping at anyone, and actually got some nice comments from Steve.

After the scenes were finished, Steve told everyone good work, and said they were moving to the Jeanie and Dave scenes, with Tina filling in, then they would break for lunch. Penny acknowledged Steve's comments, then looked at her script, after she watched everyone else walk off.

As she started walking away, she heard Brent behind her say, "Hey, Penelope, you seem to be tense, how about you come over tonight for another round of stress relief? We had fun the other night."

Penny spun around, to find herself looking at Brent, who had a smirk on his face. She had forgotten he was behind her, and looking around, she realized the two of them were alone on the set of the guy's apartment.

With her anger rising, but not wanting to bring attention to the two of them, she hissed at Brent, "You just stay the fuck away from me. It was a mistake on my part, and I don't want to be taken advantage of again. So, unless we're working on a scene, or have to be together for this show, just don't fucking get any where near me."

"Is that any way to talk to a fuck buddy?" said Brent, with a laugh.

Penny could feel tears starting, but she held them back and continued, "You have never been my buddy, least of all, that kind. The other night was a mistake, on my part. And, you were an asshole for taking advantage of me. I repeat, just stay the fuck away from me."

Without waiting for an answer, Penny turned and walked away, heading for her dressing room. Brent just stared after her, with a large grin on his face.


	50. Chapter 49

**A/N First off, those who are requesting the name of the story this is a prequel to, I would request you send me a PM. I know at least three readers who don't want to know, and if I put it up here, they may see it. A PM would limit it to those who want to know. As an aside, it was two weeks and a year ago, as I write this, I started writing this story. I want to thank everyone who has read this, and especially thank those who have reviewed, especially after the way the last two chapters have gone.**

 **Chapter 49**

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 8:00 AM Thursday Nov 1st 2012**

Leonard unlocked and entered his lab. He put his messenger bag down and extracted his computer from the bag. Opening the computer he turned it on, then started updating the white board in his office, with all the changes to the calculation he had made at home the previous night.

He was struggling with the calculations now, really needing some more data, but his experiments hadn't provided anything new, and he hadn't heard from Geoff in about a week and he really needed to talk to him.

 _I may have to call him in the next few days. He was supposed to get me the data last week, and I really need it. Or, if Sheldon ever gets back to me on my idea, I may get help that way._

Leonard sighed, knowing he probably needed both of them to actually make any progress, as he had been stuck on the main equations for a couple of weeks now.

And then there was the issue with Penny. _Tuesday is a taping day, I don't expect to get a call from her. But Wednesday? It's one of her light days and she's never missed a Wednesday before. What could be wrong?_ Leonard sighed and looked at the clock.

He had about 15 minutes before one of his grad students would be there, to go over the progress on the student's experiment, and explain his changes, for that experiment. That would give him enough time to grab a cup of coffee and either a fruit cup or a bear claw in the cafeteria. He put down his marker, locked his office and headed for the cafeteria.

 **Studio 44, NY 3:50 PM Thursday Nov 1st 2012**

Penny had spent most of the afternoon in her dressing room, coming down to the set only for the blocking for the four scenes. Brent was in all of them, but only one were they alone. In between those scenes, she kept running over what Brent had told her, and it brought tears to her eyes, every time.

 _Brent said I was the one that kept asking for drinks and ended up drunk. Brent told me I was the aggressor, about having sex. How could I do something like that?_ And the answer came immediately to her. _I've done something like this before, Raj._

 _But, I didn't have a boyfriend then, and dammit, Brent knew I had a boyfriend. But, I told him it didn't matter, how the frigging hell could I do that?_

Again, the guilt and shame were overwhelming and her tears started again. _No sense staying here, I need to get home. I can't talk to Leonard about it. Jeanie's not here, but even if she was, I'm not sure I could tell her._

Penny gathered her things, put them in her bag and left her dressing room. She went down the stairs, and was walking toward the exit to the studio, when Les Droste, one of the cameramen, stopped her.

"Er…Ms Jensen?" he said.

"Yes Les?" said Penny.

"I uh…I'm not sure…"

Penny noticed he was looking down, as if he was embarrassed, "What is it, do you want to tell me something?"

"Er, I would," said Les, "but, I'm not sure how."

"Just tell me."

"Well, it's really none of my business," said Les, "but, I thought you might want to know. Brent is telling some people that he slept…er…I mean, what I should say…"

As soon as Brent was named, Penny had a feeling she knew, "Just tell me. I may be mad, but not at you and I won't be embarrassed."

"Er, I'm embarrassed," said Les, "What I'm trying to say is that he's bragging to some of the guys, that he and you had sex, and he was telling them about you."

Penny's stomach flipped over, but she kept her face unchanged, "Thank you for telling me. I may have to talk to our producers."

"That might not be a good idea," said Les. "The people he's telling are a small clique of his, and they'll deny it."

"How do you know?" asked Penny.

"He has a reputation of sleeping with actresses," said Les, "he's gotten some of them drunk, then he brags about it. When some of the actresses complained, about his telling others, the guys he had told would deny it."

"When I first started in the business, he told me about things, but when I told him I wouldn't lie for him, he had me booted off the show I was working on."

"I'm not sure I could verify anything for you. I didn't hear everything, and it would be his and his clique's word against mine. And, generally, if they say anything to you, they make sure it's just one of them, or only members of the clique. But I just wanted you to know, so you could be prepared if someone, other than Brent, asks you about it."

Penny felt like crying again, but she simply said, "Yes, I can see where that might be a problem. I want to thank you for at least letting me know."

"You're welcome," said Les, "I'm sorry something like this happened…is happening to you. I've seen Brent be a real ass."

"As have I," said Penny. She hesitated. She looked at Les, and saw pity and sadness in his eyes, "It's my own fault, I made a mistake."

"I'm sorry," said Les. "If it helps, I think you're doing a wonderful job. You struggle a bit with your blocking and such, during rehearsal, but you are spot on during taping night. And, you're funny."

"Thank you, Les," said Penny, "I better be getting home, have a good night."

"You have a good night, too, Ms Jensen."

"Please call me Penelope," said Penny. She turned and walked out of the studio.

 **Apt 314, NY 4:35 PM Thursday Nov 1st 2012**

Penny opened the door to her apartment and put her things on her table. She had stopped at the store, and picked up a few bottles of wine. She opened one and poured herself a large glass. Taking it down in one long drink, she then poured another large glass.

She was a bit stunned, by what Les had said. It was bad enough that she had made the huge mistake of sleeping with Brent, but now, he told her she was the one that pushed for it. Now he was telling others about it, and she thought everyone in the show would soon know. Would Kelli and Jim even want her when they found out?

Until now, she had felt mostly guilt, for what she felt was cheating on Leonard. But, now, with Brent bragging about it, and knowing others had found out, an immense amount of shame, for her actions, was crushing her.

She took another large drink of wine. All she wanted to do was drink, so she could forget what had happened, for a little while. She reached for the bottle to refill her glass, when she stopped.

She realized she still had to study her script, her lines, and her blocking. As much as she wanted to drink and forget, in her head, she could hear Jeanie's admonition about being professional and she decided she would eat and study first.

She put the bottle down and went into the kitchen to make her dinner. She baked some frozen fish, put a potato in the microwave and when they were finished, she sat down at the table and ate. Afterward, she started looking at her script.

She was having a bit of difficulty, as every time she saw "Hunk" in the script, she would think of Brent, and lose her concentration. What made it bad was, although she only had one scene alone with Brent, he was in the three other scenes of hers, and the scenes before and after hers, so she kept seeing "Hunk". She finally gave up, got the bottle and glass, and she poured another drink.

She turned the TV on, and was flipping through the channels, ended up watching "Wheel of Fortune". When it ended, she got up and went to the bathroom. When she returned, she found her show was on. Just then, Brent appeared on the screen.

She was surprised by the amount of fear and disgust that surfaced in her, just by seeing his face. She rapidly changed the channel, just wanting to get that face off of the TV. She was now afraid of getting her script, to study it, worried about the reaction to Brent's character in the script. But, she knew she needed to work on it, so she got up to get it.

As she was going to get her script, she heard the iPad Skype ringtone for Leonard. _I can't, I can't, I can't face Leonard yet._ She just let it continue, until finally it stopped. Penny sighed, she could feel the relief flowing over her, until she heard Leonard's ringtone for her phone.

Now, she felt she would be able to answer the phone. She hadn't spoken to him since Monday, he had been calling, and leaving messages. She knew she wouldn't be able to speak to him if she was looking at him, on Skype, but she felt she would be able to get through a phone call.

She picked up her phone and said timorously, "Hi sweetie."

"Is that you, Penny?" said Leonard. "You haven't been answering my calls and didn't answer my messages or texts. I've been so worried."

Penny was trying to figure out exactly what to say, and failing, "I'm sorry, I've been distracted." Penny could feel something in her throat, so she coughed a couple of times, to clear her throat.

"Why are you coughing? Are you feeling OK," asked Leonard.

Penny was about to say no, she was fine, when it occurred to her that it might explain her not calling. Summoning up her acting skills, she said, "I haven't been feeling well. I've been trying to rest, and trying to study my script."

"But, I've been going to bed early, and studying when I could. I'm sorry." _There, that's not a lie,_ she thought, but right after that, another thought, _but, it's not the whole truth either._

"Oh no," said Leonard, "I understand. You just take care of yourself. You don't want to be sick, go into work, and get everyone else sick."

Now Penny was feeling bad about how great Leonard was being, while she wasn't being totally truthful with him. She started choking up again, but managed to turn it into a cough.

"Maybe I better cut this call short," said Leonard. "And, let you get back to resting."

Penny desperately wanted to cut the call short, she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold up, so she said, "That might be a good idea. I really have to study a bit more, and then I should get to bed."

"OK, now that I know you're OK…well, at least I talked to you," said Leonard. "I'll try to call tomorrow night, and if not then sometime this weekend. I love you."

That choked Penny up and she coughed again, "OK, bye, I'll talk to you this weekend. I love you." The last was said with more emotion than Penny intended, she hope Leonard wouldn't notice.

"Bye," said Leonard

"Bye," said Penny, and she disconnected. She felt terrible. _How can you love me when I'm so unworthy of your love?_ Penny was now feeling truly awful about herself and she grabbed the bottle of wine the glass and poured a large amount and again took a long drink, before pouring another.

"Yeah," Penny said to no one, but the room, "first you fuck around on him, now you're not telling him everything. You don't deserve anyone like him Penny. He should just drop you, you disgusting skank, and if he knew everything, he probably would."

Penny again took a large drink. She was starting to feel it, but she didn't care. _Maybe if I drink enough, I'll black out and at least for a little while, I won't have to remember. Maybe I'll finish another bottle and that will do it._ She took the bottle and the glass back to the couch, started flipping through the channels and drinking. By eleven, she was quite drunk and she headed of to bed, walking unsteadily to her bathroom.

After her usual preparations, she started to get into the bed, and stopped. She could see Leonard's picture, and the snowflake on her night stand. Doing the only thing she could think of, she placed the picture face down, on top of the snowflake, thinking she didn't deserve to see either Leonard or his snowflake. She didn't feel worthy.

 **Apt 4A, 5:00 AM Friday Nov 2nd 2012**

Leonard slowly awoke, the phone ringing finally had penetrated. He reach for his glasses and put them on, then grabbed his phone. He saw the name Geoff, on his phone, and he answered, "Hello?"

"Good morning Leonard," said Geoff, "I apologize, as I'm assuming I woke you up."

"Yes," said Leonard groggily, "that would be a good assumption."

"Again, I'm sorry, but I needed to talk to you before I leave for the weekend."

"What is it?"

"I'm heading to CERN today," said Geoff. "I'm leaving in about an hour as I've got to check on an experiment, and the weekend is the only free time I have. Also, I have a possible candidate for one of the open positions, and I will be talking to them while I am there."

"So, what is so urgent that you are calling me at five in the morning?"

"I'm simply apologizing to you, Leonard," said Geoff. "I haven't run the latest experiments, and so I won't have any data for you. On top of that, I haven't done any of the work on the equations, so that is behind also."

"Dammit," said Leonard. "Oh, I'm not swearing at you Geoff, just at the situation. I'm stuck and until I have the data, I can't really do anything. How much longer do you think it will be before you can get to the data?"

"I'm not really sure," said Geoff. "We're just getting back from our mid-term test week and even with the light schedule last week, I couldn't get much of it done. As you know we have two vacancies in our department, one of them an experimentalist, and the other a teaching position."

"We are also losing one of the professors that lectures and supervises the laser lab, after this semester. So, that is going to make it even more difficult for us to provide you with the data next year."

"What the hell is going on there Geoff?"

"It's just a cycle," said Geoff. "The instructor was a post doc, who got an offer for a tenured-track job. The experimentalist got an offer to move to CERN, and the supervisor is reaching retirement age."

"We should be able to replace the instructor after graduations next May, with a new PhD. But the experimentalist and lecturer, along with the supervisor, are going to be a bit more difficult."

"But, again, that's not your problem, it's ours," said Geoff. "Unfortunately for you, our problems are causing problems for you. I'm hoping I can use some of my down time, between semesters, to get that data to you. I don't want to discontinue the partnership, but I'm afraid we might have to, if I don't get the data to you."

"Geoff," said Leonard, "do what you can. If you aren't able to get it to us, maybe we can look at some alternatives to keep us working together."

"You're quite kind Leonard," said Geoff. "I will do my utmost to try and get the information to you. I'll let my department know I'm having problems…"

"No, Geoff," said Leonard, "don't do that. That might cause problems with my department. Let's keep this between us for now, until you tell me there simply isn't a way."

"Are you sure, Leonard?" said Geoff.

"Yes, I am," said Leonard. "We can talk the first or second week of December, to see where were at."

"Thank you, Leonard," said Geoff. "I'll let you get back to sleep, again, I'm sorry I woke you."

"Don't worry about it, Geoff," said Leonard. "Just leave me a message or send an email about once a week, so I can keep up."

"I will do that, Leonard," said Geoff, "look for a message next week."

"I will," said Leonard, "now, have a good trip, and when you come back, do what you can for us, goodbye."

"Goodbye, Leonard," said Geoff. They both disconnected.


	51. Chapter 50

**A/N So, since I haven't made this point in a while, I'll take some time now. I don't own any of these characters, that's between Warner Brothers and the other author. Although, come to think of it, I guess the lighting guy is mine. This chapter (and the next several) are a bit shorter, about 2700 words (in my word processor, the number there, doesn't usually match here, plus, there is also the A/N that isn't on the master document). For some reason, I missed that I had a very short chapter (about 2200, from my normal 3000), so I ended up moving some stuff around. I didn't want to just pad it, to get it to 3000, so we have a few shorter chapters here.**

 **Chapter 50**

 **Apt 314, 8:30 AM Friday Nov 2nd 2012**

Penny rolled over to turn off her phone alarm. She had taken some aspirin with a large glass of water before going to bed. She had also woken up around 2 AM and had drank another glass of water, to try and reduce the intensity of her hangover.

She got up and stumbled to the bathroom, before going out to the kitchen, to turn on her coffee maker and take some more aspirin, before heading for the shower. After her shower, she sat at her table, drinking a cup of coffee, then got dressed and ready for work. Before leaving, she poured a full travel mug of coffee, then left her apartment for work.

Walking to the studio wasn't a struggle, because she had only drank a bottle and a half, before drinking the water, coffee and taking the aspirin. Because of this, she didn't feel all that bad physically, however, emotionally she wasn't just feeling depressed, it felt to her as if a whole cloud had enveloped her life.

She thought about how, before she left, her and Leonard had agreed to talk about problems. But last night, she didn't talk to him, she simply told Leonard what amounted to a lie, because she was afraid to tell him what was actually happening.

She wasn't sure if she felt worse about not talking to him or lying to him. Actually, she knew what she felt the worst about, sleeping with Brent. And the events of the last few days had pushed out just about everything else in her life.

Penny managed to make it to her dressing room, without anyone stopping her. She unpacked her bag and decided it was best to stay in her dressing room. She pulled out her script and tried studying until Penny heard the loudspeaker call her down to the set, for the first run through.

Penny got through the first run through, although she struggled a bit, inwardly, when doing the four scenes with Brent. Steve said they would be able to move on, with Steve telling Penny while he could still see a bit of the previous problem with her and Brent, it wasn't quite as noticeable today. This made her feel good, considering how she felt about him now.

Dave and Brent moved down to one of the sets built for this week specifically. Penny got a cup of coffee and was waiting at the women's apartment, when she realized she had left her script at the guys apartment. She walked down there, found her script on the couch, picked it up, and started back towards the women's apartment.

Just as she turned, she heard someone call out her name. Looking around, she saw one of the lighting guys setting up a ladder. Penny looked at him and said, "Yes?"

The guy looked over toward her, and grinned.

"What?" Asked Penny.

He continued grinning and said, "I hear you're pretty good with zippers, when you're on your knees."

Penny was shocked. She looked around and found it was just the two of them, no one else was in the area, and so no one else had heard. Penny was becoming angry, but she didn't want to let him know he had got to her, so she turned and simply walked away, while shaking her head. She needed some time to gather herself, and so she walked down to where Steve was and told him she'd be back in 15-20 minutes, before heading off to her dressing room.

While she climbed the stairs, her eyes started filling with tears. She opened the door and entered, looking in the mirror. _I have to pull it together. I can't be crying, because I have the scene coming up, and I can't give any of them the satisfaction._ Penny pulled out a few tissues, wiped under her eye, blew and wiped her nose. She went over to her sink, and splashed her face, the cold water bringing her around somewhat.

She fixed her makeup, then went back down to the set, determined to get through the scenes. How the hell was she going to fix the problem of doing scenes with Brent, when she couldn't even stand to be next to him, without getting that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She got through the one scene she was in with Brent, and then, Steve called for a short break.

After the break, Penny again managed to get through the rest of the scenes she had with Brent. Afterward, Steve again mentioned her body language with Brent, but Penny really didn't care. She knew the problem was still there, but considering the circumstances, she was just happy to get through it. She didn't know how to fix it herself and she just hoped Jeanie would be able to give her some advice, on how to work with him, when she got back from Boston on Sunday.

Penny headed up to her dressing room, packed up her things and left, closing and locking her door. She walked to the stairs and when she was about ten steps down, Brent started walking up. She looked straight ahead, not wanting to look at him.

She could see his arm move, drawing her eyes to him, just in time to see his middle and fore fingers move to either side of his mouth, and his tongue flick out of his mouth several times. Penny moved her eyes away from the image, but she heard his chuckling as he went by.

Penny hurried out of the studio, then out of the building as fast as she could, trying to appear as if there was nothing wrong. Once out on the sidewalk, her eyes filled with tears, and she decided a trip to the grocery store was in order, she knew she was going to need some wine, to get through the weekend.

 **Apt 4A, 6:30 PM Friday Nov 2nd 2012**

Leonard heard his call go to Penny's voicemail, and after the beep, said, "Hi Penny, just calling to check into how you are feeling. What's going on? If you are still feeling bad, please call me and let me know. I love you. Bye."

Leonard disconnected and looked at his phone. _Maybe Penny is feeling better and went out. Or maybe the group planned something for tonight. I'll just have to try tomorrow._

 **Apt 314, 10:30 AM Saturday Nov 3rd 2012**

Penny woke up slowly, knowing she was going to have another hangover. She could already feel the headache, without even trying to sit up and she expected to be generally feel bad. _Hell, I finished two bottles of wine last night, of course I've got a hangover._

She slowly moved to a sitting position. As expected, she just felt "fuzzy" as she called it, so she stayed in that position for a few minutes, letting her body settle down. She couldn't stay there though, the liquid she drank last night was creating something of an emergency for her, forcing her to get up and move toward the bathroom.

She made it to the toilet and managed to sit down, in time to urinate. After finishing, she washed her hands and slowly walked to the kitchen, to turn on the coffee. then went back to her bedroom, putting on her robe and slippers, before coming back out to the dining table. As she passed it, she saw there were three bottles on the table. This puzzled her as she remember only finishing two bottles.

She got her coffee, trying to put the previous night together. She had felt so bad about the comments the lighting guy had made, not to mention the thing Brent had done, that she started drinking as soon as she got home. It seemed the only way to bury the feelings she had about herself, over what had happened over the last week.

She took a couple of aspirin, then drank a large glass of water. By this time her coffee was ready and she poured a cup, then took it to the couch, where she turned on the TV. _I'm not doing anything today._

 **Apt 4A, 9:30 AM Saturday Nov 3st 2012**

Sheldon and Leonard were waiting for Raj and Howard to come by, the four of them were going to Legoland for the day. Bernadette and Amy were at a convention for various biology disciplines, so the guys had planned a day of it. The problem, as Leonard saw it, was that Penny had not yet called back.

After Raj and Howard arrived, Leonard decided he didn't want to go, as he didn't know when Penny was going to call. Howard pointed out that it was after noon in NY, and if she hadn't called yet, she probably wouldn't call until the evening. Leonard grudgingly agreed, and the four of them left.

 **Apt 314, 3:30 PM Saturday Nov 3rd 2012**

Penny was sitting on the couch, not paying attention to the TV. She had finally figured out she had finished the half of a bottle from the previous night, and the one bottle was still more than half full, so she really only had finished two bottles of wine, not three, although she was still feeling the effects of the hangover and thought, _I shouldn't be happy about drinking almost two bottles._

She had had a couple of bowls of cereal, for breakfast, and left the bowl on her coffee table. The plate and bowl from her lunch and the remains of the soup and sandwich on them, were thrown into the sink. She was still in her robe and slippers. She had seen and heard Leonard's message, but she didn't want to call to talk to him, so she simply ignored it.

One good thing about the hangover, she felt too bad, and had such a painful headache, even with the aspirin, she hadn't been able to think about what had happened, though most of the day. However, by now, the effects of the hangover had lessened, somewhat, and she was now wallowing in self pity for the actions of the previous week, along with the comments she had gotten from Brent and some of the crew.

She went to her fridge, and pulled out a bottle of wine and opened it. _I don't want to think about it, I can't deal with it. I got a couple of hours before I have to make dinner, might as well start early._ Penny poured a large glass of wine.

 **Apt 4A, 6:30 PM Saturday Nov 3rd 2012**

Sheldon and Leonard entered apartment guys had left Legoland around 4 PM, with several large Star Wars themed building sets. They had stopped at The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, something they hadn't been doing much of lately, since Penny no longer worked there. Along with dinner, Leonard had answered Cheryl's questions on what Penny had been doing, and he promised to say hi to Penny for her.

Arriving back at the apartment, Leonard took an imperial cruiser set, while Sheldon carried a death star kit, into Sheldon's bedroom. Leonard came back out to the kitchen and again looked at his phone, and was wondering why Penny hadn't called back. He pulled up her number and tapped it, then waited.

He heard it again go to voicemail, causing some frustration for Leonard. After the beep, he said, "Penny, what the hell is going on? I call, leave a message, then you don't call. You haven't answered. I've also sent a couple of texts and an email, and I'm getting nothing back. I know you said you were sick, but can't you take some time to call and let me know how you are doing? Please call me back when you get this message."

He disconnected and stared at this phone. _If she's that sick, maybe she needs to go to the hospital. I'll call again later, and ask if she thinks she might need to go._ Leonard sighed and put his phone in his pocket. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on, and began flipping though the channels, hoping to find something worthwhile.

 **Apt 314, 6:00 PM Sunday Nov 4th 2012**

Penny was looking at the bottle of wine, wondering if she should open it, finally deciding she shouldn't. She had again woken up hungover, after drinking another two bottles of wine. The feelings of being hungover continued throughout the day, even with water and aspirin, until around 4 PM.

She had stayed in bed until almost eleven, finally getting out of bed to get some aspirin, water and coffee. She was still wearing the same pajamas she had worn all weekend, her hair was disheveled and she hadn't had a shower, and she didn't care.

After she got her cup of coffee, she had taken it to the couch and put it on the table, then laid down on the couch. Around 12:30, she managed to get up and get some cereal, because she didn't feel energetic enough to do anything else. She did get a second bowl, again leaving the bowl on her coffee table.

Finally, around four, she had felt well enough to start going over her script, and had spent the last two hours doing just that. Since deciding, for now, against some more wine, she started making dinner.

She made a salad, some ramen, and a couple of slices of bread. She brought her dinner over to the coffee table, pushing the cereal bowls out of the way to make room. After she finished, she just pushed the bowls and plate, from her dinner off to the side. It was almost 6:30 when she flipped on the TV.

She spent the next half hour looking for something to watch, and also started thinking about the last week. She started feeling more and more depressed about the whole thing, when she looked over at her table and saw the wine. Getting up, she walked over to the table and saw there were two uncorked bottles, among the six that were empty.

She reached for one of the uncorked, thinking it was time to start drinking. But, just before she was able to grab it, she heard her doorbell. She looked at her door, wondering who it could be, Jeanie wasn't due back until late. Walking to the door she peered through the peep hole and found she was looking at Jeanie.

She gave a cry of joy, unlocked the door, opened it and before Jeanie could say anything, Penny desperately wrapped her in a hug and just held on.

Jeanie was surprised, but returned the hug, until Penny broke it, then led Jeanie into her apartment. She closed the door and took Jeanie to the couch.

"Do you want some wine?" asked Penny.

Jeanie looked around the apartment, seeing the dishes on the kitchen counter and the dishes on the coffee table. Finally, she noticed all the empty wine bottles laying on the kitchen table, "No, I think I'll just have some tea."

Penny looked disappointed, but nodded, put the bottle down, and walked over to the fridge and poured two glasses of iced tea. She brought them to the couch, giving Jeanie one of them. Before Jeanie could ask anything, Penny said, "So how's your mom and how was your trip?"

"My mom is doing fine," said Jeanie. "It looks like they got the tumor out, and she is recovering nicely. The trip went well, I was even able to get back a little early, as you may have noticed."

Jeanie was getting ready to ask Penny about herself, and the mess she saw around her apartment, when Penny's phone rang. Penny looked at it and noticed it was Leonard, and she put it down. Jeanie had also seen it was from Leonard and said, "Why don't you answer it?"

"No," said Penny, "You're here now, I'll call him back later." The phone finally went silent.

Jeanie had noticed Penny wouldn't look at her, when her phone beeped, indicating Penny had a message. "You going to listen to the message?" asked Jeanie.

"No, go ahead with your story," said Penny.

"I'm finished," said Jeanie, "I'll go ahead and leave and you can call Leonard back."

"No, I don't want to talk to Leonard," said Penny, avoiding looking at Jeanie.

"Why don't you want to talk to Leonard?" Asked Jeanie, sounding puzzled.


	52. Chapter 51

**A/N Sorry, I'm a bit late today, but I was busy today, but it's only about 8 hours. A bit of background, I wrote the first draft of this chapter, just after I bought Red Dead Redemption 2, so I thought I'd add that section with Leonard, because I thought of the bit where Sheldon is playing Red Dead Redemption, and offers Leonard a drink. This leads to one of my favorite lines, "I can't, I'm playing Grand Theft Auto later."**

 **Chapter 51**

 **Apt 314, 8:30 PM Sunday Nov 4th 2012**

"I just can't talk to you about it right now," said Penny

"Well, if you're not going to call with me here," said Jeanie, "I'll leave."

"No, no, no, please don't go," said Penny pleadingly, she needed some advice from her, and she desperately didn't want to be alone.

"OK, then," said Jeanie, "you call Leonard, I'm going to run to the bathroom."

Jeanie got up and went to the bathroom, while Penny selected Leonard's number and tapped it. She was hoping she would be off the phone before Jeanie got back. She heard Leonard's phone ring, then Leonard answered, "Penny, is that you, are you all right?"

"I'm still feeling a little sick to my stomach," said Penny. "I was laying down, trying to get some rest and so I can feel better before tomorrow." Penny felt guilty again for kind of lying to Leonard, but all she wanted was to get off the phone, so she wouldn't have to talk to Leonard and start crying, or still be on it when Jeanie came back.

"That's fine," said Leonard, then continued, almost pleading, "but, please answer my calls and texts, or call or text me back. I'm really worried about you right now, to let me know, OK?"

"It's nothing Leonard," said Penny, "but I'll call." She really wanted to be off before Jeanie came back, so she felt a little white lie wouldn't hurt. She didn't notice Jeanie had left the bathroom and was standing behind her.

Penny continued, "Like I said, I'm not feeling well, and I think I'm running a fever. I was dozing off when you called and I didn't get to answering it."

"OK, I feel better now, hearing from you," said Leonard. "I'll let you go then, get back to sleep, and get better."

"I will, more sleep and more fluids," said Penny, "goodbye, Leonard."

"Goodbye, Penny," said Leonard, "I love you."

They both disconnected. Penny had a smile of relief on her face, until she heard Jeanie, "What the hell was that, Penny? You're not sick, just hungover, why are you lying to Leonard?"

Penny turned, shocked to see Jeanie behind her, and she asked, sounding a bit panicked, "How much of that did you hear?"

"Oh, enough," said Jeanie, "like you being nauseous and just dozing off, before he called, which I know isn't true. So, again, what the hell is going on, and why are you lying to Leonard?"

"Jeanie," said Penny, starting to choke up, "it's been a very rough week for me, and I don't want to get into it, OK? I've got some issues that I need to work through, part of it has to do with Leonard, so I can't talk to him."

Jeanie looked around, looked at her, and scoffed, "I wouldn't say it's been a rough week, how about it's just been a rough weekend? You have dishes on the counter, dishes out here, your garbage is full, and an awful lot of empty wine bottles, like you've been drunk the whole weekend. I would say that's what the problem is, from the way your hair looks. So what's going on?"

Penny looked away from Jeanie and said evasively, "I told you, I really don't want to get into it. Let me work some things out and I may decided to tell you, although if I work them out, it won't really matter." She turned back to Jeanie, "But, I need your help."

Jeanie just looked at her sternly, "What you need, is my help to to quit drinking, and quit lying. What's going on?"

"I told you, I didn't want to talk about it. What is so hard for you to understand?" Penny had snapped at Jeanie, and continued angrily, "I need some advice, and I need it before tomorrow, so can we concentrate on that?"

Jeanie paused, she really wanted to know what Penny's problem was, but she could sense Penny was already defensive about it, but she thought she'd give it one more try. "Come on Penny, if something is bothering you, I might be able to help, just…"

"NO, dammit," yelled Penny, "You can't help with the problem and I would hope you would respect my feelings on this." Penny's voice became softer, but still sounded angry, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't snap at you because I have a problem. But if you keep pushing me, I will be angry. Now, if you don't want to help me with what I need, just tell me now, and I'll try to find someone else."

"OK, Penny," said Jeanie, "I'm your friend and I want to help you solve your problems. But, it looks like you don't want help for what seems to be the major problem, so what is it that you need from me before tomorrow?"

Penny glared at Jeanie, "Just some advice." She was wondering how to explain her hatred for Brent right now, so she decided to be vague. "Something happened between Brent and I this week, and like I said, I don't want to get into it. My problem is I have scenes with him this week, and we have to pre-shoot about five tomorrow."

"What happened?" asked Jeanie grinning. "Did you two end up making out or something?"

Her flippancy about the comment, along with how close to the truth it was, made Penny angry, and she said through clenched teeth, "I said I didn't want to talk about it. What is so hard about it that you can't understand?"

"OK, OK," said Jeanie, "geesh."

"Let's just say I really, really dislike him right now. I'm at the point where I don't want to be anywhere near him, and yet I have to shoot these scenes. How do you shoot scenes with someone you really don't like?"

"I'm not sure what to tell you," said Jeanie. "If you dislike him that much, that just being near him is a problem, I really don't know how to fix it. To get through the shoot, the only thing I can think of is to use the energy of disliking him, to work through the scene."

"How the hell would I do that?" asked Penny.

"That's something you're going to have to figure out," said Jeanie. "Have you heard stories about two actors that hate each other, but they seem to have a lot of chemistry, on screen?"

Penny nodded.

"I had that happen once," said Jeanie. "It was someone I absolutely hated, and we had to do a scene where we were making out. I was very aggressive in the scene, making it look like I wanted him desperately. Hate is a passion, as is love. So, I took that hate, and turned that feeling into what appeared to be love. But it wasn't love, it was my hate of him."

"Aggressive?" said Penny, "I can't be aggressive with him in that scene. And, besides, this is a comedy."

"I don't mean physically aggressive," said Jeanie, "you just use the dislike, emotionally, except you channel it into the emotion of the scene. And don't ask me how to do that. Each person is different and has to figure it out for themselves. I can tell you what you have to do, but not how you can do it."

"But, I don't know how to do that," said Penny sadly.

"I think you'll find," said Jeanie, "that once you start, you'll figure it out. OK, try this, a lot of your lines are sarcastic, it might help to turn your hate, into sarcasm, look for places in your script tonight, where you use the sarcasm toward Brent, not the character. The same with emotions, put your anger in that one scene, towards Brent, not the character."

"I guess," said Penny, nodding. "I'll think about it some tonight, look at the script, and try to channel it tomorrow morning, maybe I'll figure it out. Do you want some wine?"

"I would," said Jeanie, "but, from the looks of this place, you, and especially your table, I don't think you need any tonight, so I'll pass."

"Who are you to tell me that?" said Penny.

"Yes, I drink, but Penny, just look around at this place" said Jeanie. "Here's what I'm going to do, I'm going to take the two full bottles home with me, and I highly recommend you put the dishes in the dishwasher, take the trash out and straighten out the rest of the place."

"Then you will go to bed and get up around eight, so you can get a good breakfast and a shower. Then use the rest of the time, until I get here, to try and channel your dislike into the emotion or line or action of the scene. I'll be here at 9:30 to get you, got it?"

Penny said, with some relief, "Ok, I will. Thanks Jeanie, it's good to have you back. I could have really used you this weekend. And I'm sorry I got angry and yelled at you."

Jeanie looked around again, "No doubt, but I'm here now, so we'll take care of it. And don't worry about getting angry, it seems you're upset and the anger is compensation. See you tomorrow."

Jeanie leaned over and gave Penny a kiss on the cheek, then hugged her. She walked over to the table and grabbed the two unopened bottles of wine, then walked to the door, and opened it, before saying, "Goodnight Penny, see you in the morning," as she closed the door.

Penny watched her leave and whispered "Goodnight, Jeanie." Penny turned and looked around her apartment. She walked to the table and starting to pick up all her dishes.

 **Apt 314, 9:30 PM Monday Nov 5th 2012**

Penny was sitting on her couch, the TV playing in the background. She was starting to feel the wine. She had gotten through the pre-taped scenes with Brent, apparently without any trouble. Jeanie had commented on how easy she had made it look, and even Steve had complemented her on those scenes, compared to how she had looked the week before.

Penny knew otherwise. It had taken all of her will power not to think about what had happened with Brent, during those scenes. When she did think of it, she was reminded she had cheated on Leonard. That had happened a couple of times, but she had managed to hide the feelings and prevent the tears from forming, enabling her to get through the taping, of those scenes.

She had refused Jeanie's offer to make dinner and spend the night with her and when Jeanie had continued to push, Penny had cut her off, again angrily. Jeanie ignored that, because she was sure the anger was due to the unknown problem, but until Penny opened up, she wouldn't know what the problem was.

As soon as Penny got home, she felt the pressure of the day weigh her down, and she started drinking immediately. Around six, she made herself dinner and afterward, as she aimlessly flipped through the television channels, she continued to drink.

She was feeling really down, about what she had done, and now felt on the verge of tears as she realized she didn't want to talk to Leonard, because she was afraid that she would mistakenly tell him what had happened. She started to get up, to pour another glass of wine, when her phone started playing Leonard's ringtone.

She just stared at her phone, she couldn't even reach for it. She was already close to tears. was also afraid if she answered, she wouldn't be able to keep from crying. And if she was crying, Leonard would ask what was wrong."

And if he did ask, she would have to lie again or mistakenly tell him the truth. The tone finally stopped, and a minute later the tone for a voicemail went off. Looking at the phone, her tears started flowing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," was all she could say, over and over.

After about 15 minutes, she was still weepy, but she turned off the TV, and took her glass to the kitchen and put it in the sink. She took a couple of aspirin, drinking a whole glass of water, before heading for her bathroom, where she brushed her teeth, flossed, and washed her face.

She then changed into a nightgown and climbed into bed. As she was turning off the light, she again caught sight of Leonard's picture, still upside down, and she started crying again, finally crying herself to sleep.

 **Apt 4A, 10:30 PM Monday Nov 5th 2012**

After leaving the message, Leonard tried to go back to work on his idea, but he was worried and kept thinking about Penny. _She's been nauseous for a week now, and she hasn't been to the doctor, maybe I should call Jeanie, maybe she'll be able to get her to go see a doctor._

Leonard decided not to call Jeanie, he figured he could give Penny another week or so to get better. To kill some time before bed, he grabbed the controller for the Playstation, and played a mission from Red Dead Redemption. That took him about a half hour, then he shut it off, turned off the lights in the living room and kitchen, and went to the bathroom to start preparing for bed.

 **Studio 44, 10:30 PM Tuesday Nov 6th 2012**

The actors had taken their bows, the auditence was leaving, and Jeanie was talking with Dave and a friend of his. Dave was looking around, his friend wanted to meet "Penelope", but he couldn't see her.

Jeanie now started looking for her also and, she too, couldn't see her anywhere on the set. She said goodbye to Dave's friend, and walked over to her dressing room. Before going in, she stopped and looked at the stairs, wondering if Penny had gone up to her dressing room.

She started up the stairs and knocked on Penny's dressing room door, and heard from within, "Just a minute."

Penny came to the door and Jeanie could see the tears in Penny's red streaked eyes. She also saw traces of mascara running down Penny's cheeks, and immediately became concerned.

"What's wrong, Penny?" Jeanie asked.

"Nothing for you to worry about," said Penny, choking up.

"But, you're crying."

"It's none of your business, right now," said Penny sharply, "just leave it alone, OK?"

"I don't get it," said Jeanie sounding frustrated, "You had such a great night, you killed it out there, so what do you have to be upset about? Just tell me, I ca…"

"I SAID LEAVE IT ALONE," yelled Penny, then she turned away.

Jeanie was hurt and wanted to lash out back at Penny. But, it was obvious something serious was bothering her, so she took a deep breath and said, "OK, calm down, I'll leave it alone. But, I'm going to ask you when I think something is bothering you. Penny, you are my friend, I care about you."

"Right now, you aren't behaving anything like you behaved prior to last week. Something is obviously bothering you. If you don't want to talk about it, just tell me. You don't have to yell."

Penny now felt even worse, now she was hurting Jeanie. She turned and nodded. "I'm sorry Jeanie," said Penny, sounding contrite. "I told you, I've got several things I have to figure out on my own, no one can help me, right now. It is upsetting me, I sometimes get teary, but for now, I can't say anymore. So please just let it go for now."

Jeanie smiled at Penny, "I can do that, as long as you realize that if I see you upset, I am going to ask, I'm even going to bug you about it, I can't help it, I care about you."

Penny smiled weakly back, "I'll try to remember that, before I yell at you."

"Good, now," said Jeanie, "are you about ready to go to Jake's"

Penny felt slightly panicked, not wanting to see Brent there, "No, I think I'm just going to go home. I know I'm upset and I'm just not feeling right. I want to get some sleep."

Jeanie looked at her, then nodded, "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

Penny walked up to Jeanie and said, "Thank you for caring." Penny then hugged Jeanie, holding on tightly. Jeanie noticed how tightly Penny was hanging on, and returned it.

After they broke the hug, Jeanie said, "You're welcome sweetie. See you in the morning." She then left.

Penny sighed, and turned to pack everything up. She got everything into her bag, left her dressing room and locked her door. She walked down the stairs and out of the studio, saying goodbye to some of the cast and crew.

She left the studio, walking east on 57th and at the corner she crossed the street, looking at the door to Jake's. She thought about changing her mind, and going in. But, then she thought that she might see Brent, and she really didn't want to see him, so she kept to her plan, passed by Jake's, and continued toward her apartment.

She had walked about 100 feet from the corner, when she got a peculiar feeling. She turned to find Brent, watching her. He looked at her, pursed his lips, and basically made a kissing motion toward her. She turned around, and with her eyes filling with tears, walked quickly home.

After getting home, she closed and locked her door, leaned against the door, and began full out crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. After a few seconds, she threw her things on the table, took off her coat, and went to her bedroom, changing for bed. She didn't even bother with washing her face or brushing her teeth, she just threw herself on the bed and began loudly crying until she fell asleep.


	53. Chapter 52

**A/N Hi all. This is a longish chapter (but not the longest), but moving the things into the next chapter, would have made that too long. I want to thank TBBT78 and bfm10, for their work and suggestions. One of TBBT78's major suggestions is in this chapter. BTW, I just finished the first draft of Chapter 71, and in first draft,** **the story is winding down. I have 8-10 chapters (and one epilogue) left. I am also** **sending my second draft of Chaper 60 and 61 out for copy editing, just to give you an idea of where I am with the rest of the story, and to let you know it won't be out there hanging. Anyway, I'll let you get to it.**

 **Chapter 52**

 **Apt 4A, 8:30 PM Tuesday Nov 6th 2012**

Leonard unlocked the front door, threw his keys into the bowl and closed the door. He was tired, because he had gone in early, hoping to get some work done, but he had several meetings that had come up, and so he stayed late, trying to work. But, he really hadn't gotten anything done.

He opened the refrigerator, and found some leftover Thai food. He poked around some more, finding the rice, put both in the microwave, and heated them on half power for three minutes. While waiting for the food, he opened the fridge and poured himself a glass of tea.

After the timer beeped, he pulled it out, stirred it, and put it together on his plate. He didn't even bother to sit down and just ate it right there on the island.

While eating, he thought about calling Penny when he was done, then remembered today was Tuesday and she would be taping, then going to Jake's, the cast's normal Tuesday night. _I guess I'll just have to call her tomorrow. Jeez, I hope she at least answers tomorrow. It's been over a week since she's been nauseous. Maybe I can get her to go to the doctor._ _I wonder if she has the flu._

Leonard started thinking of ways that he might be able to get her to go. After all, over a week is a long time to be ill, and it sounded like the flu. Maybe she's just becoming exhausted, after all, she had to work four weeks in a row, so they wouldn't have to work over Thanksgiving.

 _No, she can't be exhausted, she started getting sick last week, she wouldn't be exhausted from two weeks of work. Come on Leonard, what are you missing? What could make her nauseous for more than a week?_ _And her not replying to my calls and messages, it's like she's trying to avoid me. But, why would she avoid me?_

Suddenly, something clicked in Leonard's head, _What if Penny is avoiding me because she's nauseous, but isn't sick?_ _No, that can't be it, she would tell me if it was that. But, what if she didn't know how to tell me? What if she was worried about my reaction? What if she was worried about the show's reaction? What if…but…but,_ Leonard's fork stopped half-way to his mouth, not exactly sure what to do now.

 **Apt 314, 9:30 AM Wednesday Nov 7th 2012**

Penny was ready, waiting for Jeanie. While she was still depressed, she had cried herself to sleep after all, she had gotten quite a bit of sleep and physically felt better. Of course, she still was very despondent about her situation, so she was still not fully feeling right.

She had gotten up at eight, got a shower and had even made some eggs and toast, and had spent the last 45 minutes, sipping on her coffee and going over her script, for the table read this morning.

Jeanie was there right at 9:30, and Penny packed her things, poured herself a travel mug of coffee and after shutting off the coffee machine, left with Jeanie for the studio. Upon arriving, Jim had reminded Penny there was another reporter coming to interview her today at one.

The table read went smoothly, they had finished by noon, and Penny told Jeanie to go ahead and leave, and she would see her tonight. Penny picked out a salad and some chicken, and took it to her dressing room, to eat, study her lines, and wait for the reporter.

At one, there was a knock on her door. Opening it, she found Tina and the reporter who was going to interview her, waiting. Penny invited them in and Tina introduced Penny to Bill Ambrose.

There was some small talk, and he explained that he was from the New York Post, and there was interest, from their readers, about the new actress, from a show that was actually being shot in New York. Penny mentioned there were other shows being shot in New York.

Bill explained that while the Law and Order Franchise shot here, along with a few other drama shows, there weren't any comedies, other than _Major's Tales._

Penny nodded and Bill started asking questions. It was about an hour later, he said he was finished and he started packing up. Bill thanked Penny and Tina and left, and Tina told Penny she would see her tomorrow, and also left. Penny packed up her things, closed and locked her door, and headed back to her apartment.

 **Apt 601, 9:30 PM Wednesday Nov 7th 2012**

Penny had gone to the Thai food place and brought it to Jeanie's apartment around six. They had eaten, cleaned up, then started going over their scripts, giving each other possible alternative readings, and reading lines opposite each other.

Jeanie had suggested they not drink any wine, telling Penny they should concentrate on the script. In reality, Jeanie was becoming concerned at how much Penny had been drinking and was trying to limit it.

They had finally stopped working on their script, and Penny had asked Jeanie how her mother was doing. Jeanie explained that her mother was recovering, and that she would be going to see her mother, and help around their house, over the weekend. She added that in another couple of weeks, her mother should be well enough so Jeanie would not have to go home to help.

Jeanie had wanted to ask Penny about her problems, but as she didn't seem to be feeling as bad, over the last couple of days, Jeanie let it go. She heard Penny's phone vibrate, saw Penny look at the phone, and then put it down. She looked at Jeanie, yawned and said, "I think it's time to go home and get to bed."

Penny started packing her things away, and took her glass to Jeanie's kitchen. Jeanie got up, walked Penny to the door, hugged her as they both said good night, and Penny left.

 **Apt 4A, 6:35 PM Wednesday Nov 7th 2012**

Leonard heard his call to Penny go to voicemail, he waited for the beep and said, "Hi Penny, hope you're feeling better. If you aren't feeling well, please call me, I want to know what's wrong and maybe I can help. I wish you would call, I really miss talking to you. It really hurts me, not to talk to you. Please call me. I love you."

By the end of the message, Leonard sounded sad and hurt, and he disconnected and put his phone down on his desk. He was trying to figure out another reason for Penny not to answer, and to not call back. There has to be something. Leonard couldn't bring himself to believe that Penny was pregnant, and wouldn't tell him. It had to be something other than that, so he had put that reason out of his mind, and kept thinking.

 _But, what could it be? There has to be something to cause her not to want to talk to me. There, I said it. Penny doesn't want to talk to me, but I don't know why. Unless I can figure it out, we may end up talking less and less and just drift apart._

Leonard gave up, and turned on his computer. He had gotten some more data from a laser experiment run at the school, and he had to add it to the database. That was going to take several hours. So he went to the fridge, got some leftover Thai food and heated it up for his dinner.

He took it over to his desk, with a glass of tea, and started entering the new data, taking bites from the box of Thai food, as he did.

 **Studio 44, 9:45 AM Thursday Nov 8th 2012**

Penny and Jeanie arrived at the studio, with Jeanie stopping at her dressing room, while Penny continued on toward the stairs. Near the bottom of the stairs, she saw Brent, surrounded by a group of about 5-6 other men. They were all looking at her as she walked by, but none of them said anything. She saw why as on the other side of Brent's group, were two of the make-up crew.

Penny went to her dressing room, unpacked her bag, then took her script and walked down to the floor. The group of men was gone, and she didn't think about it anymore. She went to get a coffee and met Jeanie there. They both went to their director chairs, as they waited for the producers and director, to start their work.

Jim, Kelli, Tina, and Steve all came walking out, Steve gave directions on what scenes they were going to do, and when, and everyone went to their starting places. Jeanie and Penny had quite a few scenes together this week. Penny imagining this was due to Jeanie being gone the previous two weeks.

The writers also hinted at the table read, that Jeanie would have more scenes over the next several weeks. The week after was probably going to be interactions with Brent and Dave's characters. They were trying to catch up on the plots they had planned, and they had told Penny, she may not have very many scenes the next week.

The first two scenes, had all four actors in them. She had another one with Jeanie, just before the halfway point of the show, and just before the break for lunch.

Her and Jeanie decided to go the CBS cafeteria, instead of getting their lunch from the craft services table. After an hour of eating, talking and catching up on their phones, they walked back to the set and prepared for the afternoon blocking.

Penny only had the first two afternoon scenes, both of them were with Jeanie, and Brent. She made it through, the blocking and then Steve told her she was done.

She told Jeanie that she would wait for her in her dressing room, and carrying her script, she headed for her dressing room. She climbed the stairs and just as she got to the top, Brent's door opened and Brent and one of the lighting guys came out.

Penny froze, for a second, then continued walking. She expected the two of them to do something, she just didn't know what. She continued walking, and they politely got out of the way, but they both were leering at Penny.

Penny got by them, when she heard a voice that wasn't Brent's, say, "Hey, Penelope."

Penny tried to ignore it, and continued walking. She was hoping to get into her dressing room, but before she could, she heard, "I need some help with the poles the lights hang from, and Brent here tells me you're pretty good moving up and down on a pole, and I was…"

Penny got to her door, entered and closed it. She was stunned and really didn't know what to do. Again, unlike this morning, she noticed that the only people around were the two of them.

Her eyes started filling with tears, and she didn't want to stay, because she didn't want to cry in her dressing room, and give Jeanie something to ask her about. She packed her things, put on her coat, closed and locked her door, then left for home, feeling she would be crying for the rest of the night.

 **Studio 44,4:30 PM Thursday Nov 8th 2012**

Jeanie had finished with her blocking and had just packed all her things away, then climbed the stairs to get Penny. She knocked on her door, but there was no answer. She knocked again, and there was still no answer. She was getting ready to knock again, when Brent came out of his dressing room.

He looked at Jeanie and smirked at her, before turning and leaving. _What the hell was that for?_ Jeanie wondered. She knocked again, and when there wasn't an answer, she checked the door and found it locked. _Hmmmmm, I thought she said she would wait for me, I guess she left._

Jeanie left the studio for the walk home. Getting to the apartment building, she took the elevator to the third floor, went to Penny's door and knocked. She waited but there wasn't an answer. She tried again, but there still wasn't an answer.

She put her ear to the door, but she didn't hear anything, so she took the elevator to her floor, and went to her apartment. When she got there, she tried to call Penny, but the call went to voicemail. "Penny," said Jeanie, "Brent was acting a bit weird this afternoon. I was wondering if it's related to what happened when I was away. Give me a call when you get this."

Jeanie disconnected, put her phone down, and started working on her dinner.

 **Apt 314, 6:35 PM Thursday Nov 8th 2012**

Penny was trying to study her script, but it was a struggle. She was sipping on a glass of wine, she had started drinking as soon as she had gotten home. She had also, off and on, been tearing up, because of what happened just before leaving work. She was thinking about how she hadn't talked to Leonard since Monday.

He had left a voicemail on Tuesday, knowing she usually went out, then another on Wednesday. That one tugged at her heart, hearing the sadness and hurt in Leonard's voice from not being able to talk to her. Hearing and thinking about that also caused her to tear up.

Penny had listened to Jeanie's phone message. She hadn't called Jeanie back, and now she was feeling guilty about not talking with Jeanie. She was going back and forth about telling Jeanie, but right now, she was more worried about Leonard, so her worry about Jeanie had been pushed to the back of her mind.

She was also having trouble because she had spent almost all of her scenes with Brent. At least it wasn't just the two of them, together. There were others in the all the scenes. Two of them were with all four actors, and two were just Jeanie, Penny and Brent.

But, spending all that time with Brent, even when there were others with them, had reminded her what had happened, and made her feel very bad about what she had done to Leonard, and continued to do to him, by not talking to him, All because she was afraid of letting something slip. But, even so, she expected another call from him tonight.

But, not wanting to talk to Leonard made her feel even more guilty in a different way. She was even more depressed because it didn't matter which way she thought about it, she felt guilty either way and she didn't see a way to do anything about it.

She was also reproaching herself, about what happened and kept telling herself, using several different ugly terms, how bad of a person she was. The encounter she had, just before she left the studio today, didn't help matters. And, with everything she was thinking about, she would start crying.

Penny decided it might be a good idea to get to bed early. She was thinking if she got to bed around 9:30 PM, she would probably miss any call from Leonard. She decided missing his call, was better than trying to talk to him, feeling as she did. She looked back down at her script, and turned the page.

 **Apartment 4A,6:30 PM Thursday Nov 8th 2012**

Leonard had heard his call go to voicemail, and was at a loss as to what to say, so he hung up. He waited for 15 minutes and tried again, and when this call also went to voicemail, he had a message prepared.

"Penny, please, please give me a call. It's been four days since I talked to you. If you're still feeling bad, please let me know. I don't know why you don't want to talk to me. You don't answer, you don't call back, you don't respond to my texts. Something is wrong and I don't know what it is. Please, please tell me. Talk to me, please, you promised to talk to me if something was wrong. I love you, please call."

Leonard disconnected and looked at his phone, the hurt and pain were very noticeable in his voice. _Something was wrong. Maybe she is pregnant. I want to ask her, but what if she isn't sure and wants to tell me herself? But, she should still talk to me. Why isn't she? What is wrong? Oh, please Penny talk to me._ Suddenly another reason popped into his mine, _What if she's seeing someone else?_

He shook his head to clear it. He no longer cared about going to the comic book store. Someone else could bring Sheldon home. He despondently walked to his bedroom, closed his door, fell on his bed and just laid there, a new different thought running through his mind, until he fell asleep.

 **Apartment 314, 9:45 PM Thursday Nov 8th 2012**

Penny was in bed, trying to get to sleep, when her phone rang. She knew, from the ringtone, that it, and the last one five minutes earlier, had been from Leonard. She hadn't answered either of them, and after the second one, she heard the tone telling her she had a voicemail. She had no interest in listening to the message, and just rolled over in bed. _Why did't I got to bed earlier, or turn off my ring tones and notifications?_

She felt worthless with what had happened, guilty about not talking to Leonard, victimized by her treatment by Brent. Not only was he harassing her about that night, he was evidently telling others about it and they were treating her just as badly.

 _What the hell good is it to be a star, if I'm not happy about it? I'm making all this money, and I have no time to spend it. I miss Leonard, but I'm afraid to talk to him, I miss my California friends, and I feel so lonely._

She just didn't know how to handle it, so she drank, which is why she was in bed, still rather tipsy. She was thinking about everything, the calls and messages from Leonard, what happened at work, not talking to Jeanie, and worst, her fucking Brent. All of this finally overwhelmed her and she could no longer hold it in. She began sobbing uncontrollably, until she had cried herself to sleep.


	54. Chapter 53

**A/N Nothing really notable to pass along to everyone. I've finished chapter 72, in first draft. I do have a couple of answers for some questions poised in the reviews. First off, to Mr. Aanonymous, no, there are no lemons in this fic. The M rating is for graphic descriptions of several things, not really sex, but related to sex. To the guest review suggesting I'll be spinning this to get them back together, you'll have to figure this out. Hint: since this is a prequel, I'm kinda limited in what I can do. If you haven't figured out which story this is a prequel to, you'll just have to read until I finish, so you know this ending, and how the other story fits into this, after I tell you which one. I know, I'm evil. Anyway, here's the chapter.**

 **Chapter 53**

 **Apt 314, 9:30 AM Friday Nov 9th 2012**

Penny was sipping coffee, waiting for Jeanie, so they could go to work. She was worried that Jeanie was going to press her about what had happened the previous night, and she still wasn't ready to say anything.

She was also tired. She hadn't gotten much sleep, because although she had cried herself to sleep, she kept waking up and was restless throughout the night. She finished her cup, and put it in her sink, then she filled her travel mug, and shut the coffeepot off.

It was right then that her doorbell rang. She packed everything up, and walked toward the door. She figured if they left right away, Jeanie wouldn't have time to ask about the previous day.

Penny opened the door, walked out, then closed and locked her door. She then said, "Good Morning," to Jeanie, before they walked to the elevator. The ride down was in silence, as was most of the walk to the studio. Finally, Jeanie mentioned she would be going to Boston for the weekend.

Upon hearing that, Penny face fell, which Jeanie noticed. While Penny didn't want to tell Jeanie about what happened, she had been looking forward to not being alone for the weekend. Even if she hadn't told Jeanie what happened, by her just being there made Penny feel better.

After a few seconds, Penny nodded, and said, "Checking up on your mom?"

"Yeah, I am," said Jeanie. "She still can't do a lot, and won't be able to do housework for another couple of weeks, so I'm going the next two weekends, to get stuff done for her."

Penny nodded and they walked the rest of the way in silence. Upon entering the studio, Jeanie and Penny walked toward the stairs. Penny noticed Brent, and many of the same men from yesterday, in a group. As her and Jeanie walked past them, Penny looked down, not wanting to look at them and possibly get some kind of gesture, reminding her of what had happened.

Jeanie noticed Penny's reaction, and getting to the bottom of the stairs, Jeanie watched as Penny hurried up the stairs and into her dressing room.

The morning run-through went well, and they were done in less than an hour. Jeanie and Penny had eaten lunch together, and Penny, after her first afternoon scene, was back in her dressing room, waiting for the next scene.

Later, her studio phone rang and after answering, she heard Tina tell her that her second scene was coming up next. Penny went to the set, and ran her scene with Jeanie. After finishing, Jeanie said she would come and get Penny when she was done. Penny said, "Thanks," and left.

Just before getting to the stairs, she saw one of the sound guys smile at her, before he stuck his tongue out at her, wiggling it up and down. Looking around she saw there wasn't anyone close, and she quickly turned and started up the stairs.

Just before getting to Brent's door, it opened and Brent walked out, and on seeing Penny, he smiled broadly. She tried to get by him, but he shifted just enough to bump into her. She got past him and practically ran to her dressing room. After getting inside and locking her door, she laid on the couch crying.

 **Studio 44, 4:30 PM Friday Nov 9th 2012**

Jeanie walked up the stairs, heading for Penny's dressing room. Brent came out his, just as Jeanie got to his door. He looked at Jeanie, and grinned at her. _What's that about?_ thought Jeanie. W _hy does he keep grinning at me?_

She knocked on Penny's door, and was surprised when she didn't answer it. _Did she leave early again? I told her I would come and get her._ Jeanie knocked again.

"Who is it?" she heard Penny choke out.

 _It sounds like she's crying,_ thought Jeanie. "It's Jeanie," she said.

It was several seconds before she heard the lock open and the door swing back. There was a sharp intake of breath by Jeanie upon seeing Penny. Her mascara was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and Jeanie could see the tears in them.

Jeanie entered and closed the door to the dressing room, "Penny, what's wrong, why are you crying?" asked Jeanie, concern in her voice, "What happened?"

"What…what… do you mean?" said Penny.

"Come on, I mean, you didn't wait for me yesterday, and today I find you crying in your dressing room, what the hell is wrong with you?" said Jeanie. "Something happened while I was gone, and I think it has something to do with Brent. So, tell me, so I can help."

Tears were flowing down Penny's cheeks, "I can't, I can't," was all she could say.

Jeanie wasn't backing down, "You damn well can. You've been randomly crying, so something is bothering you. I'm your best friend here, you can tell me, let me help you.

"No, no," said Penny, "I'll be all right."

Jeanie was becoming frustrated with Penny. She had asked straight out, she had tried concern, she had tried letting it be, but nothing seemed to work, to get Penny to tell her what happened.

Maybe it was some time for anger. "NO, DAMMIT," yelled Jeanie. "If you won't tell me, I'm taking you with me to Boston tonight. I will not fucking leave you here by yourself, the way you've been acting all week. "

"Penny was shocked, she had never heard Jeanie use that particular word before."

Jeanie continued sternly, " So, you either tell me what the hell is going on with you, or you will go with me to Boston. Which is it?"

"Penny was now getting angry, "You can't tell me what to do." Her voice became mocking, "If I decide to do neither of them, there's nothing you can do."

"OK, then you leave me no choice."

"What?"

"If you don't tell me, and then say you're not going with me, I'll go right to Jim and Kelli and tell them something is going on between you and Brent and it's leaving you crying."

"NO," cried Penny, "you can't do that."

"I damn well can, and I damn well will," said Jeanie. "It's your choice. You now have three of them, what do you want to do?"

Penny was thinking. Most of all, she didn't want her going to Jim and Kelli, and telling her there was something happening with her and Brent. But, she wasn't ready to tell Jeanie yet and she was still feeling guilty and embarrassed, along with generally just hating herself. _Which left me with, what option?_ _I have no choice, I have to go and spend the weekend with Jeanie, in Boston. Maybe getting away with help clear my mind._

Although her crying had stopped, Penny still had tears sliding down her cheeks. She sighed, and said softly, "I'll go to Boston with you."

Jeanie said, "Thank you. I'm still going to keep bothering you about this. Something is wrong, and I can't help you, if I don't know what it is. I'm going to tell you, that you better figure it out. Because if you're still reacting this way in a week or two, and you haven't told me what's going on, I will go to Kelli and Jim. And, something else, I'm hurt that you don't trust me on this."

Jeanie was looking at Penny and the anguish on her face, was very apparent. Jeanie didn't know why, but Penny knew she was going to have to tell Jeanie what had happened. There was also regret because of the hurt Penny was causing Jeanie.

"OK," said Jeanie gently, "Let's get you cleaned up and get home to get ready to leave." Jeanie got Penny some tissues, which she used to wipe her eyes, then blow her nose. Jeanie told her she should wash her face also. After Penny finished, they packed up her stuff, locked her dressing room and walked down to Jeanie's dressing room.

They picked up Jeanie's things and they both left the studio. As they were leaving, Penny noticed Brent near the exit, but as her and Jeanie approached, he just turned, and walked away. Penny was puzzled as this was the first time he hadn't made a comment.

She really didn't know why he had left without making a comment and continued walking with Jeanie. That's when it hit her, Jeanie was with her, and she was someone that Brent couldn't count on to support his version.

 **Apt 314, 5:30 PM Friday Nov 9th 2012**

Penny was finishing packing her luggage. Jeanie had helped her get started, then went to her apartment to get her luggage. Penny picked up her phone to put it in her purse. Suddenly, she stopped, looked at it, and laid it on the counter. She placed her iPad in her bag, and put that, her purse and luggage near the front door.

About five minutes later, Jeanie arrived, and Penny gathered her things, left the apartment and locked her door. A few minutes later, they were hailing a cab to take them to Pennsylvania station.

Jeanie had managed to get a first-class seat for Penny, so they could ride together. They had settled into their seats and were putting their things away. Suddenly Penny said, "Dammit."

Jeanie looked at her and said, "What's wrong?"

"I left me phone in my apartment," said Penny. "I thought I put it in my purse. I guess I'll have to learn to live without it this weekend."

"You still have your iPad," said Jeanie.

"Yeah, but, I can't get calls or texts on it," said Penny, "if it's not on the same network. So while I can get on the internet, I can't contact anyone through my phone or iPad."

"Well," said Jeanie, "if you need to make a call, you can use my phone, or my parents."

Penny nodded and leaned back in the chair. It was very comfortable, and with the headrest and footrests, it was very relaxing. The tension, from the events of the last few days drained away. She felt safe here, with Jeanie next to her and simply being away from Brent and his clique. Listening to the clickity-clack of the train wheels was hypnotic, and she was soon asleep.

 **Boston, near South Station,11:05 PM** **Friday Nov 9th 2012**

Penny felt herself getting nudged and slowly opened her eyes.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," said Jeanie, "we're pulling into the station."

Penny looked out the window and indeed saw they had almost stopped. "Did, I sleep the whole way?" said Penny with a yawn.

"Yeah, pretty much," said Jeanie. "You looked so peaceful, I let you sleep. My dad is picking us up and he'll take us to the house. If you wish, you can go right back to sleep after we get in, I know I'm going right to bed."

Penny yawned and stretched, she was thankful Jeanie had let her sleep. This had prevented her from thinking about Leonard and Brent the whole trip. Guilt from what had happened and not talking to Leonard had been hard to live with. But, she now was having feelings of self-loathing, when she thought about it, and it had started to become overwhelming.

Five minutes later they were off the train, and Jeanie was waving to her father. She introduced Penny and her dad, while they walked to baggage claim. After getting their bags, they got in the car and her dad drove for about fifteen minutes before pulling into a driveway with a fairly large two story house.

They entered the house and Jeanie introduced Penny to her mom, and explained they were both tired and would like to go straight to bed, and they could talk in the morning. Her mom looked a bit disappointed, but let it go. Penny and Jeanie climbed the stairs. Jeanie showed Penny the guest room.

Penny's room had an attached bath and she decided she wanted to take a nice long soak in the tub. She asked Jeanie if she could take a bath this late and Jeanie told her to go ahead, then left to go to her room.

Penny spent the next half hour in the tub, then got out and dried herself. She next did her evening rituals and went back into the bedroom. She unpacked her pajamas, put them on and crawled into bed. Within a half hour she was asleep.

 **Jeanie's parent's house, 7:30 AM Saturday Nov 10th 2012**

The alarm on Penny's iPad went off at 7:30. Penny woke up and disabled the alarm. She put on her robe and walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs. She could smell the aroma of coffee, and followed that to the kitchen.

She found Jeanie's mom in the kitchen, feeding their dog, and as Penny entered, she said, "Good morning, Mrs Corbette."

Jeanie's mom turned and said with a smile, "Good morning Penelope, and please, call me Helen."

"Thank you, Mrs. Cor… er… Helen," said Penny, "and please, call me Penny. Jeanie said it would be OK for me to use your phone, I left mine in New York. I have to tell me boyfriend. So, would it be all right if I used your phone? I'll pay you back for the call."

"Don't worry about paying for the call," said Helen. "Do you want a cup of coffee before you call?"

"Yes please," said Penny.

"How do you want it," asked Helen.

"Black," said Penny.

Helen turned to pulled a cup down from the cupboard.

"No, that's OK, I'll get it," said Penny. "You're supposed to be taking it easy to get better from your operation."

Helen chuckled, "I'm fine. I know my limits, and getting you a cup of coffee is well within my limits." Helen poured a cup and handed it to Penny. Penny thanked her then turned to go the living room, where she had seen a phone.

She dialed the number for the phone in apartment 4A, and when it went to voice mail, as she expected since it was 4:30 in California, she said, "Hi Leonard, I'm at Jeanie's, in Boston, for the long weekend. I left my phone in New York, so I won't be able to call or get messages, until I get back late Monday night. Sorry, I missed you last night, I had a bit too much to drink. I'll talk to you Tuesday night, goodbye."

Penny hung up, a bit relieved that she wouldn't have to talk to Leonard until Tuesday, giving her some time to come up with a coherent story. She sighed, realizing that she had to plan the call with Leonard, otherwise, she was afraid she would break down crying.

Add to that the increasing guilt she felt, also for lying to him, and she just wasn't sure about being able to talk to him. She grabbed her coffee and started toward the kitchen, to talk to Jeanie's mom, hoping it would take her mind off of all the thoughts jumbling around in her head.

 **Apt 4A, 8:30 AM Saturday Nov 10th 2012**

Leonard walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. As he poured it, Sheldon spoke up, "You have a message on the answering machine, it's from Penny."

"What did she say?"

"I don't know," said Sheldon, "as soon as I heard it was from Penny, I shut it off, so as not to interfere with Dr. Who."

Leonard rolled his eyes, as he walked to the answering machine. He ran the message, and erased it when it was done. He then walked back to his bedroom, the message had given him a lot to think about, and he wanted to do that away from Sheldon.

In one sense, Leonard felt relieved, _If she was pregnant, she wouldn't have been drinking until she was drunk. So, I don't think she's pregnant. But, if she isn't, why is she avoiding me?_

 _I haven't talked to her all week, and now I get a message at 4:30 in the morning, when she knew I wouldn't be up. Why didn't she call when she knew I would be up?_

 _For that matter, she would never forget her phone. She always has it with her, although there was that time a few weeks ago…_ He shook his head, _She might forget it when she was running to the store, but knowing she'd be gone for two to three days, she would make sure she had it with her._

 _So, why would she intentionally not bring her phone with her? And why didn't she say I love you, when she finished the message. She's avoiding me, she's not saying she loves me._

Suddenly, Leonard was overwhelmed with sadness. _She's avoiding me, because she's seeing someone else. Who could it be, wait, that can't be it, because she is still calling me. But, what else could it be?_

Leonard had no idea what else it could be. He didn't want to continue to think about it, but try as he might, he couldn't get it out of his head.


	55. Chapter 54

**A/N Hi all, I have a couple of comments, and/or clarifications. I don't mind critical reviews, if you don't like the story, by all means let me know, specifically what you don't like about it. However, several years ago, I decided that since I can't reply to guest reviews, to explain why, what you don't like about the story, is like it is, I don't approve negative guest reviews. If you're bold enough to tell me what you don't like about my story, please be bold enough to do the comment under your own account name. If you don't want to do it** **publicly, send me a PM. Another thing, one of those guest reviews went on for a bit, about a couple of specific things they didn't like. Interestingly, I also got a PM, praising those same specific things that the guest review didn't like.** **I learned a while ago, that** **I'm not going to be able to please everyone at all points (and quite probably, there will be others who like those points other don't like).** **I write the story as it comes to me (remembering that this is a prequel, so I have to keep to the timeline and events of the other story), and if you don't like it, what can I say? If I change it to suit you, then someone else may not like it, and I'm back in the same place.** **So, I write it to please me, and if other people enjoy it, that's a bonus. So far, it seems that there are quite a few of you, who are enjoying this, and for that I am very grateful. Finally,** **sorry for the length of the A/N, but I wanted to clear that up.**

 **Chapter 54**

 **Apt 314, 12:30 AM Wednesday Nov 13th 2012**

Penny had just gotten home from work, the latest she'd ever gotten off from the show. It had been a whirlwind for the past 24 hours. Her and Jeanie had gotten back from Boston at 11 PM on Monday night.

Since it was the Veteran's Day holiday, there were fewer trains, and they had to take a later one. Boston had been a pleasant experience for Penny. Jeanie had kept her so busy with people, places and things that Penny hadn't had time to think about her problems, except at night.

Jeanie had taken her to various places where Jeanie had gone to school, and done things as a child. Saturday night they had gone to a community theatre where Jeanie had started acting as a teen. The people there were glad to see her, and almost everyone wanted to talk to her.

Jeanie had told Penny, that she supported the theatre, anonymously, giving them $50,000 a year, to give others a chance to become actors. That night, they had watched "Chapter Two" by Neil Simon. Penny felt embarrassed, as the actors were very good, better than herself, she thought. But, it was fun when the actors were excited to meet Jeanie, and her.

Sunday was visits to some of the Revolutionary War sites, along with a light dinner with Jeanie's parents. Monday was partially spent by Penny telling Jeanie's parents her story, and her parents telling Penny some stories about Jeanie. Penny was laughing through most of them, while Jeanie just looked embarrassed. They caught the 8 PM train, getting back to their apartments around one in the morning.

Tuesday was a long day, as production changes, due to the holiday, were in effect. The table read, for next week, would be done Tuesday afternoon. Pre-shoots for this week would also be done on Tuesday. Wednesday would be the taping day and Thursday and Friday would be blocking and the usual run-throughs.

They did their normal Monday run through in the morning, then, at 2 PM, they did the table read for next week's show. At 5 PM, they started pre-shoots, broke for dinner, then waited for darkness, as Penny and Dave were scheduled to do night shots on the back lot, with Jeanie.

Penny had done her pre-shoots, and then waited for Jeanie and Dave to finish theirs. Afterward, they went to their dressing rooms, gathered up their things and left for home. Jeanie asked if Penny wanted to come up to her apartment, but Penny declined, telling her she was too tired.

After unpacking everything, Penny remembered she had told Leonard she would call him tonight. But, right now, she was exhausted and just wanted to get to bed. Then, she realized that if her conversation with Leonard became overwhelming for her, she could use her exhaustion as an excuse to end it.

She sighed, then picked up her phone and selected Leonard's number. She heard it ring twice, and then Leonard spoke, sounding excited, "Penny, is that you?"

"Yeah," said Penny trying to sound tired, "it's me. I'm exhausted, Leonard, I've been going since 9 AM."

"I'm just glad you called," said Leonard, "it's been so long since I talked to you."

"I'm sorry," said Penny, trying to sound petulant. "I forgot my phone, then we didn't get home until really late last night, and now we had a late night. I'm just really tired, feel dirty and I'm looking for a shower and getting to bed. I'm sorry this isn't going to be a long call, I just wanted to check in, cause I said I'd call you tonight."

"I see," said Leonard, the disappointment in his voice very obvious. "I'm sorry you felt you had to check in."

"Don't be like that Leonard," said Penny. "You know how you get when you're tired, because you have to stay up two or three nights to get an experiment up and running. I'm just as tired, and I'm sorry you think your work is more exhausting than mine."

"I didn't mean it that way, Penny," said Leonard. "It's just I haven't talked to you much in the last couple of weeks and I miss talking to you."

That feeling of not being worthy of him started Penny's eyes to start tearing up. She missed talking to Leonard too, and knew she had to get off before she started crying. "Like I said, I'm really tired and I'm just checking in with you."

Leonard took a deep breath and started, "I get the feeling something is bothering you. You seem to be avoiding me…"

"Look Leonard, I really need to get a shower and get to bed, so I'll try to call on Thursday. Talk to you then."

"Have I done something wrong?" Leonard asked flatly.

The question brought Penny to tears again, "No…no, you haven't done anything wrong, it's just the way this weekend went, really."

"Maybe, I should come to New York," said Leonard. "That way you could have someone there, if you needed to talk."

"No, no, you don't have to do that," said Penny quickly. "If I need to talk to someone, I have Jeanie, so you don't have to worry about it."

Leonard gave in, for now, "OK, talk to you Thursday. I love you, bye."

"Bye," was all Leonard heard from Penny, and the line went dead.

 _She didn't say it again,_ thought Leonard. _I wish I knew what was going on. She's not saying I love you, she's avoiding me, something has to be bothering her._

Penny sighed _I hope he didn't notice I didn't say I love you. Awwwww, who am I kidding, he notices everything like that. I wonder what's going through his mind right now_. _I'll wait until the morning to get my shower. What I really need, right now, is a glass of wine._

Penny started toward the kitchen, to get a glass. She stopped, and decided it wasn't worth it tonight, as the next day was a taping day and it would be a long one. She turned, and went to her bedroom, to get ready for bed.

 **Studio 44, 11:30 AM Wednesday Nov 13th 2012**

Penny was in her dressing room, going over her script. She had gotten page changes for the afternoon run-through and she was going over them. She smiled as she thought how easy it had been to change out the pages, rewrite her blocking and camera angles.

It had taken her less than ten minutes to do all that, and that gave her almost two hours to study. She smiled thinking about her first few weeks here. For the first time in a couple of weeks, she felt good about herself, at least as an actor, and thought of how far she had come in the mechanics of acting. She knew she really ought to thank Jeanie for that, but she was still feeling good.

There was a knock on her door, and she rose to go answer it. She was surprised to see Jeanie there and she invited her in.

"What are you doing here?" said Penny. "You hardly ever come up here."

"I know, I should come more often," said Jeanie. "I was just checking on you and wondering if you wanted to come with me to Boston again, this coming weekend."

Penny shook her head, "No, I got through last weekend, I should be OK."

Jeanie looked closely at her and didn't see the sadness she had seen last Friday. "You don't look as sad as you had been looking, what's causing that?"

Penny sidestepped that one, "I was just thinking how quickly I made my changes, and how much time this gives me to study, and I have you to thank for that. But, even knowing that, I was still proud about getting it."

Jeanie smiled, "I told you, you would get it. But, thanks for giving me credit."

"It's been getting easier and easier, and gives me more time to concentrate on my acting."

"Well, stop that," said Jeanie, "you were getting all that credit without knowing what you were doing. You're going to make us all look silly now."

Penny looked shocked and worried, "I don't want to do that…"

"I'm kidding, Penny," said Jeanie quickly. "Anyway, I said I was wondering if you wanted to go. But, to be honest, I was checking on you. If you are as bad off anytime this week, as you were last Friday, I'm going to give you the same choices."

"Nope," said Penny, "I'm doing better. So there is no reason for you to worry about me."

"OK, like I said, you don't look as sad, as last week."

Penny thought, _It's because of my acting, I'm still a no-good, trashy, lying, cheater, who really shouldn't be happy._ To Jeanie, she simply nodded her head.

"But, if I find you crying, you're going, or I'm going to Kelli. It's obvious something has you all tied up in knots, and you're aren't talking, so I worry. And, don't forget, you promised to tell me what is bothering you, by next week."

Penny smiled weakly, "Well, you were at the table read, I don't have much to do in the next episode. With only one scene in each half of the show, I'll be spending most of my time in my dressing room. So, while you're here, do you want to run to the commissary for lunch today?"

"Sure," said Jeanie, "I need to get my purse, how about you meet me at my dressing room, in say, about five minutes?"

Penny nodded and Jeanie left. _I'm going to have to make sure Jeanie doesn't see my becoming upset. I don't need to be a bother to her and her parents._ She put down her script, grabbed her purse, and started down out the door, going to Jeanie's dressing room.

 **Jake's, 11:30 PM Wednesday Nov 13th 2012**

They had been at Jakes for over an hour, and Penny had thought about ordering a third glass of wine, but a stern look from Jeanie, who still hadn't finished her second, stopped her. Brent was there, and Penny managed to sit in a chair behind the table, so Brent couldn't bother her, but Jeanie was still watching Penny closely.

Penny looked at Jeanie and winked, "Hey, Kelli, did my mistakes finally catch up with me?"

Kelli looked puzzled, "What are you talking about?"

"I only have two scenes this coming week," said Penny. "So have you limited my appearances, so we don't waste time and I cause the show to cost more?"

"Not at all," said Kelli. "It's simply a result of the Jeanie being gone, and having to catch up on her storylines. Besides, you haven't been messing up all that much. You have to put that silly article out of your head. You know it was just false information…"

"I know, I know," said Penny with a slight grin.

Kelli realized Penny had got her, and just waved her hand at her.

"But, thanks for the compliment," said Penny.

A half hour later, they were all walking toward the door when the sound of glasses breaking was heard behind them. Everyone turned to look, and when Penny turned back she saw everyone else still looking behind her. Brent, who was in front, wiggled his eyebrows at her, and smirked. The smirk disappeared as the others turned back around.

Penny could feel the guilt and hatred rising, but tried to push it down. She didn't want Jeanie to see her upset. She got outside, said her goodbyes, and quickly started walking toward the apartment. Jeanie caught up and they were soon home.

Penny was quiet on the way home, commenting that she was tired. She said goodbye to Jeanie at the third floor, and was soon in her apartment, preparing for bed.

 **Studio 44, 2:00 PM Thursday Nov 14th 2012**

Penny was in her dressing room, getting ready to leave. She had finished blocking her two scenes, done the run- through and Steve had been told her she was finished. Jeanie had quite a few scene changes and she was going to have to stay longer. She told Penny to go ahead home, and Penny was packing up her things and getting ready to leave.

She locked her door and walked down to the floor. Kelli noticed her and called her over.

"Yes," said Penny walking up to Kelli.

"You have an interview tomorrow," said Kelli. "'Variety' wants to talk to you tomorrow. They are coming in at three, and were pushing the run-through up to two PM, so you'll be finished and able to meet with them."

In her current mood, she wasn't really happy about it, but nodded. Kelli must have seen or sensed something because she said, "Is there a problem with that, Penny?"

"No, no," said Penny, "just feeling a bit tired and grouchy, I'll be ready tomorrow."

"Good, good," said Kelli, "see you tomorrow." Kelli turned and walked away.

Penny sighed, turned and started out of the studio, on her way home.

 **Apt 314, 8:00 PM Thursday Nov 14th 2012**

Penny was flipping through the channels. She had gotten home, and tried to take a nap. Her thoughts about the last few weeks kept her from actually falling asleep, so she got up and started studying her script.

Jeanie stopped by around 6 PM, asking Penny to dinner, but Penny declined. She was feeling tired, and wasn't in any mood to go anywhere or talk to anyone. Jeanie was concerned but Penny was able to allay her concerns, insisting she was just tired.

After she made her dinner, she took a quick look at her script, but realized, after looking at it this afternoon, that with only two scenes, there wasn't much more to look at. Around 7:30 she watched Wheel of Fortune, and when that ended, went to the bathroom and then got another glass of tea.

When she returned, she found her show was on. As she found after watching the first one, it wasn't a good idea to watch herself. She was searching for the remote to turn the channel, and before she found it, she realized the show that was on was the show that was taped, the night she went to Brent's.

With that realization, tears started forming in her eyes and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably. She struggled to find the remote and was able to finally turn the TV off, but the events of that night and the next morning, along with her feeling and thoughts over the last few weeks were brought sharply back to her memory.

The tears continued as the guilt and shame weighed on her. As she sat on her couch crying, she felt helpless to do anything. She couldn't confront Brent, as those who had seen his actions at the studio, would back him, not her. And, she was avoiding talking to Leonard, because she worried she would blurt out what had happened.

 _Face it Penny, you're just a slut who will jump into bed with anyone._ It was early, but she just wanted to crawl into bed, so she got up, turned off the lights, and then prepared for bed. She was still sniffling when she finished her preparations and crawled into bed.

She wanted to drink, to drive out those thoughts. But, if she was hung over, that might give Jeanie an indication that there was any kind of problem. She laid in bed for over an hour, trying to clear her head and fight the urge to drink, so she could get to sleep. It was two hours later, before she was finally able to get to sleep.

 **Studio 44, 2:00 PM Friday Nov 15th 2012**

It had been a rough day for Penny, she had not slept well, tossing and turning all night. She had to have been careful around Jeanie, as she was trying to keep her problems from her, so she wouldn't try to force her to go to Boston.

She was also feeling guilty about not talking to Leonard for several days. She was supposed to have called him last night, but between her mood and her crying, she felt it was better for her to go to bed. On top of all that, Penny was feeling worthless, because of her actions.

Then, the interview she had today, didn't go very well. She was distracted and wasn't very responsive to the questions. She had finally asked for Kelli, and she arranged for the interviewer to come back next week, explaining Penny wasn't feeling well.

When she was getting ready to leave, Jeanie had told her to go ahead, as she still had some scenes to go through. She gathered her things, locked her door, and walked down to the set. Finding Jeanie, she told her to have a good trip and she would see her Monday. Then she started out of the studio.

On the way, she saw two of the crew walking towards her. She was wary, because she had seen them with Brent, and was hoping nothing would happen. Just as they passed her, one of them said, "I hear you're a hot piece," as they kept walking.

Penny didn't stop, it was said low enough that only she could have heard it, and with two of them, she assumed they would support each other's denials. She hurried out the door.

On the way home, she stopped at the store, buying several bottles of wine. Once she got home, she opened the first bottle, filled a large glass and took her first drink, a large one, hoping to forget what had just happened at work.


	56. Chapter 55

**A/N Hi all, well, with this chapter, this becomes my longest story, topping "The Chew Toy Revelations" by about 1500 words, currently. This is a long chapter, so just one quick comment. Remember all, this is a prequel. Parts of this are set in stone, by the original story. There are parts that I have written, that as a fan of Lenny, I really struggled with, but they have to be there. I understand some of the concerns, as this has turned into a not so happy story, but that's what I warned everyone about at the beginning. Here ya go...**

 **Chapter 55**

 **Apt 314, 12:30 AM Friday Nov 16th 2012**

It was 9 PM, and Penny had already finished the first bottle of wine, and had started on a second. She had been feeling depressed and started drinking as soon as she got home, hoping the wine would keep her from thinking about today.

She also was trying to get enough liquid courage to call Leonard. He had left a message, on Friday morning, sounding angry, and demanding she call him Friday night. Penny wasn't sure how she was going to talk to him, but, she knew he was angry, so she felt she better call. By 10 PM, she knew she was a bit tipsy, and was already weepy, but was trying to keep it together. She chose Leonard's number and pushed the call button, and a few seconds later, she heard it ringing.

She heard him answer and say, "Hello."

"Hi, Leonard," Penny said meekly.

"Oh, you got my message, I see," said Leonard, sarcasm in his voice. "So is this the call I was supposed to get yesterday?"

This was not going as Penny had expected, as Leonard was already being sarcastic. "I had a really bad day, yesterday, and today's wasn't much better, so how about you lighten up a bit."

"Ok," said Leonard, "Tell me about it."

"I'd rather not," said Penny, "I'd rather talk about something else."

"Like what?" asked Leonard, again with a sarcastic tone, "How about why you've been avoiding my calls, or not returning them?"

"Leonard," said Penny, "I've been having a rough time at work, I really don't want to talk about it." She was starting to choke up.

"Don't you think I deserve, to know what is going on?" asked Leonard. "I mean we agreed to talk about problems before you left, remember?"

She knew he was right, but she couldn't bring herself to even start to tell him what happened, and now that thought brought tears to her eyes. "Yes, Leonard," said Penny, "I do remember, but…but…but…"

"But, what?" he asked. "Do you want to wait until next week when you're home?"

Penny suddenly realized, she hadn't made plans to go home, and she wasn't sure she wanted to go now. Facing Leonard, in person, and trying to keep what happened from him, was something she wasn't sure she would be able to do. "I, can't say anything. I just can't, I won't" said Penny, "I'm sorry, Leonard."

His voice softened, "Penny, what is wrong? Are you having problems at work again? Please tell me, I can't help you if you won't say anything."

"I'm sorry, Leonard. No, its not work. I…I… I'm sorry. It's not fair to you." She could feel the tears in her eyes.

"Penny, please talk to me," said Leonard, desperation in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Leonard," said Penny. "For not talking, for not calling, for…for… that night I…" Penny suddenly realized what she almost said, and started sobbing.

"Why are you crying?" asked Leonard. "What night, what are you talking about? The night you forgot to call me?"

"I've got to go, Leonard," said Penny, now sobbing loudly, "Just know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Penny pulled the phone away from her ear, and disconnected. Not wanting to get a call back, she then shut her phone off, and sat there finishing the second bottle. Afterward, she plugged her phone in, turned off the lights and went to prepare for bed. She was sobbing the whole time, and when she got into bed, she again cried herself to sleep.

Leonard looked at his phone after she hung up. He called back, but the call went to voicemail. He wasn't surprised and didn't bother leaving a message, just got up and went to his room. Spending the rest of the night trying to figure out what was wrong with Penny, and how could he help, and wondering if he should go to New York.

 **Apt 314, 10:30 AM Saturday Nov 17th 2012**

Penny slowly woke up. She could feel the dry mouth, and when she attempted to get up, the headache. Even her eyes hurt, so she laid back down for a few moments, before attempting to get up again.

She made her way to the bathroom, and after using the toilet, she washed her mouth out, and took two aspirins. She then made her way to the kitchen, and started the coffee. She wanted to think over the last few weeks, but with the headache, she decided to put it off until later.

After a couple of cups of coffee, she felt a bit better, but decided to take a shower and try to wash away some of the hangover. It was about an hour later, after the shower and washing her hair, that she finally got another cup of coffee and felt well enough to tackle thinking over what she should do.

As she sat at her table, she had several different things running through her mind. It seemed to her that work was the biggest, and tied into everything. She felt she had to solve that one, before she could solve anything else.

 _In reality, I've been thinking about it since that morning, three weeks ago. Along with every time Brent or one of his 'buddies' has made a comment to me. Maybe I should just say the hell with this job, with acting, and just go back to LA._ _I know Brent and his group, will continue to harass me. Do I want to have to face that possibly every day? I just don't know how to stop it, because every time they've done it, it's just them. So, it's my word against theirs, and it's not like I can go to Jim and Kelli, because Brent will just deny it._

 _Do I also have to worry if it gets out that I slept with him? I'm not sure I could deal with everyone in the world knowing I had sex with him. If I just go back to LA, I wouldn't have to worry about not knowing if the person I was working with knew what happened between us._

For a couple of hours, those thoughts were foremost in Penny's mind, as she also came up with other reasons. How it would get rid of all her problems with Brent, if she just left. But, as she thought about it, there were several thoughts that just wouldn't go away, and she finally brought them into consideration.

 _I've worked so hard to get here, not to mention everything I had to learn while I was here. Do I want to toss all that away? If I quit, no one would hire me, for anything, ever again. It would be the end of any kind of career in acting._ _Then there's Jim and Kelli, they took a chance on me and they are so happy about how things worked out. Do I disappoint them? I owe them a lot and it wouldn't be fair to them, if I quit. That would ruin the show, and they would have to shut down to find another actress._ _And, what about Dave and Jeanie…oh God, especially Jeanie? She's been so kind, and so helpful. If it wasn't for her, I don't know where I'd be and she's put a lot of effort into this show, maybe I should talk to her first._

Another couple of hours had gone by while she thought about the various reasons to either give or not give up her career, and it was now near 2 PM, and she was getting hungry. She tried to put everything out of her mind while she made a sandwich and some soup, and sat down to eat it for lunch. After she finished eating, she cleaned up, and went downstairs to check her mail. Grabbing what was in there, she took it back to her apartment, and found it all to be junk mail. She tossed it into the garbage and sat down, on her couch, to continue trying to figure out what to do.

It was tough for her, as she could counter one reason to quit, with another for her to stay. Around 7 PM, she ordered a pizza, and continued thinking. Just after the pizza arrived, she heard Leonard's ringtone, but she didn't want to talk to him. She was still thinking about what to do, and she still rebuked herself, for getting drunk and cheating on him. However, knowing Leonard had called, had made her realize that Leonard had to be a part of her decision. If she decided to quit, she would go back, but would he want her back after what she had done?

She was now thinking about how Leonard fit into her decision. Thinking about what happened, she started crying.

 _Should I even go back to him? I know not talking to him is hurting him, but if I tell him what happened it will hurt him even more. I hurt him in the bowling alley, I hurt him when I spent the night with Raj. And now, I'm hurting him again._ _I'm supposed to go back Tuesday night, but I can't. I'm avoiding him because I can't bear to talk to him on the phone, and it would be worse, if I was there with him. I can't go home this week, but how do I manage that?_

 _Should I even go back, because I really don't deserve him? I've hurt him so many times, and now I've slept with Brent. With my record, who's to say it won't happen again, like it has before, if I drink too much. Awwwww, shit Penny, what a fucking mess you've made. Face it, you don't care who fucks you or who it hurts._

She felt very tired, and she hadn't even taken a drink today. _Trying to solve this must have taken more out of me than I thought, and I don't even have a solution._

She wrapped up the left-over pizza, and put everything in the dishwasher, then started it. Looking at her phone, she saw that besides the call, Leonard had left a voicemail, sent her several texts, and a couple of emails. She felt horrible about not answering, but she didn't feel she could keep from letting it slip as to what happened, if she talked to him. And, if she answered the text or the email, he would start asking questions, questions she felt she couldn't answer.

Now, with the guilt over Leonard added to her thoughts, and all the other questions she still had, she decided that she wasn't going to solve her problems tonight, so she might as well get to bed. She did her usual preparations, and then climbed into bed. It was only 9:30 PM, early for her, but she felt exhausted and was hoping to fall asleep, and start where she left off tomorrow morning. It was a vain hope, and her mind kept going over everything, even though she was trying to ignore everything swirling around in it. It was almost three AM, before she finally fell asleep.

 **Apt 314, 11:15 AM Sunday Nov 18th 2012**

Penny had planned to get up much earlier, but not falling asleep until late had her waking up around 10:30. So it wasn't until now that she had finished her morning rituals and was sitting at the table with her coffee.

The overwhelming thing that she was thinking about this morning was Leonard. She had been avoiding contact with him, since that morning and she really needed to figure things out. But, with the things happening at work bothering her also, she had pushed Leonard to the back of her mind, but now, it was at the forefront of her thoughts, and she couldn't avoid it. She had decided she couldn't go back next week, even though it would be Thanksgiving. She knew it would be obvious something was bothering her, something she couldn't yet bring herself to tell Leonard, something, she felt, would come out, if she went home. So, not going home was the only solution she could see. But, there had to be a reason why she couldn't go home, and she didn't yet have one.

The other thing, something that had been bothering her since that morning; the feeling she had destroyed the relationship. He already suspected something was wrong, he just didn't know what, and she knew she wouldn't be able to tell him about it, because she was afraid of how much it would hurt him.

 _Hurting him,_ she thought _. I'm so good at that, first at the bowling alley, then with Raj, who knows when else? Now, I've actually slept with someone else._ Tears started forming in her eyes. _I've been so terrible to him, and he still loves me. "_ WHY AM I SO CRAPPY TO HIM? WHAT CAN I DO?" She yelled out.

Penny spent the rest of the day, thinking about what, when and how, or even if, she should tell Leonard. But, she was struggling as nothing was coming to her. She was also thinking about whether to quit or continue with her career, but again, she couldn't find a clear path either way. Throughout the day, as it became too much for her, or she grew frustrated, she would start crying. Finally, at 10:30 PM, she decided it was best to go to bed, so she got ready. Unlike last night, she fell asleep quickly, but her mind was still trying to figure out what was coming next.

 **Apt 314, 9:30 PM Monday Nov 19th 2012**

Penny was getting ready to call Leonard, and although she had been preparing all day, she was still worried. She had spent all day, when not on set, in her dressing room, still thinking about everything she had spent the weekend thinking about. A stray comment at the craft services table, as she was getting a cup of coffee, gave her an idea for not going back this week.

Jeanie had notice there was something off, but as Jeanie was busy with a lot of scenes, and Penny only had a few, she really didn't get a chance to talk to her about it.

Now, was the time. Leonard had left some more voicemails, along with texts and emails, and since she didn't call him the previous night, she had to call now. She prepared for this call, just like she prepared before filming a scene. Doing all she could to make sure she didn't slip and tell him, or end up feeling more like the worthless piece of shit she already felt like, because she knew she would have to lie to Leonard.

She pulled up his number, pushed the screen and waited. There was a brief pause, then she heard his phone ring, and after the second, she heard his voice, "Penny?"

"Hi Leonard."

"Are you all right?" He asked. "I've been worried, I hadn't heard back from you. I left messages, and texted, and…"

"Yes, I'm fine," said Penny, "just been busy over the weekend, with different things."

"But, you could have called," said Leonard. "Even a short call, just to let me know. Or a text, or answer one of the emails, it wouldn't have taken long. It hurts me, when you're not answering any of my messages, like you were avoiding me."

 _There it was, so soon, I hurt him again._ It hurt her to know she was hurting him, "I was asked to do something, and I was simply was running around, checking on some things."

"What were you asked to do?"

Using the comment she heard at the craft services table, she said, "They want me to stay, and do an interview during the Macy's parade."

"Well, then, why didn't you tell me?" asked Leonard. "I could come to New York and spend Thanksgiving with you."

"No, no, you don't have to do that," said Penny. "I'll be busy running around."

"Well, then," said Leonard, "I don't understand why you didn't tell me. I mean, they must have asked you last week, right?"

"I…I…well, uh," Penny started, not knowing what to say. "ah, yeah, on Friday, I think."

"You think?" said Leonard, sounding puzzled. "If you don't know what day, what did you have to check on? If they asked you, I would think they would have everything set up for you, right?"

Penny hadn't planned for being questioned and didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent.

When he continued, Penny could hear his voice cracking, "Penny, please, talk to me. There is something obviously wrong, yet you won't tell me. And when you don't answer my calls or messages, it looks like you are avoiding me."

Penny's heart was breaking at the sound of Leonard's voice, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything, but her eyes filled with tears.

"Penny, please," she could hear the distress in his voice, "how would you feel, if I was avoiding you, and not talking to you?"

"I…I…I don't know." She did know how she would feel and she just felt worse and worse about making Leonard feel that way. But, if she told him, it would hurt him even more.

"Well, it hurts, that's how I feel. So, please, talk to me."

"I can't," she croaked, "I'm sorry, I can't. Not right now."

There was a silence on the other end for a few seconds, then finally Leonard sighed, then said, with sorrow in his voice, "Ok, fine, don't tell me right now. I'll let you go now. I know there is still a problem, at least you called back. Do me a favor though at least call me back, OK? You better call to cancel your flight."

"I don't have to," said Penny letting her guard down, "I didn't make a reservation…"

"What?"

Penny fell silent, realizing she'd been caught, but Leonard continued, "What do you mean you didn't make a reservation? You _always_ make one the week before. Are you saying you weren't coming home all along, and are just now getting around to telling me and then lied about staying for the parade?" Leonard's voice had been getting louder, and angrier as he continued.

"It's not like that, Leonard."

"Then tell me, what was it like," shouted Leonard. "Were you even planning on coming home at all?

"I…I…I…"

"So your weren't planning on coming home and were just lying to me. Just fucking wonderful Penny." yelled an angry sounding Leonard.

Penny was upset, and frustrated about being caught out in a lie, and not knowing what to do, she became defensive and yelled back, "Do you think things here are easy? Huh? Working, coming home to an empty apartment, getting harassed at…er, no one here, you think it's easy?"

"Well, I'm here alone," shouted Leonard back at her, "and I'm able to at least call, and I don't lie to you."

"Oh, alone," said Penny sarcastically, "with Sheldon, and the rest of the gang. Poor Leonard, all by himself. Tell me all about it. No, you know what, don't tell me about it, I don't want to hear it."

"And I don't want to hear you lie about your problems," said Leonard. "They're probably not even problems, just lies you've been telling me." His voice got low, and Penny could tell he was on the verge of crying, "You're really hurting me here Penny, you won't talk to me, you're lying to me, and I just don't know what is going on. It's really not fair of you." He paused, and felt he had to ask the question that was in his mind, "Are you seeing someone else? Is that what all this is?"

"No, no, that's not it, I'm sorry Leonard," said Penny, now sobbing. "I'm not seeing someone else, but, you're right, it's not fair to you and I just don't know what to do or say. I've got to go, I can't…goodbye."

Penny hung up and buried her face in the arm of the couch, crying. It wasn't fair to Leonard to tell him what happened, it wasn't fair to Leonard to avoid him, it wasn't fair to Leonard to not tell him what she was struggling with. Since it wasn't fair to him that she couldn't tell him what the problem was, or couldn't talk to him, or now, go home, it had become painfully obvious to her, what she had to do.


	57. Chapter 56

**A/N Nothing to note this week. I didn't write anything, other things, IRL, intruded. I'm back on first draft writing today. Here ya go:**

 **Chapter 56**

 **Apt 314, 8:00 AM Tuesday Nov 20th 2012**

Penny woke up, happy that she didn't feel hung over, until she remembered the call the previous night, and knowing what she must do today. She got up and made her usual preparations for going to work, then sat, sipping on her coffee, while she waited for Jeanie.

Jeanie was there at 9:15, and they set off for the studio. Penny kept her face neutral, and her answers short, on their way to work. She didn't want Jeanie getting too inquisitive about how she was feeling. When they arrived, they went to their respective dressing rooms, getting ready for the run-throughs during the day and the taping tonight.

Penny knew she wasn't going to have to do a lot today, she only had two scenes, so she was aware she would have the time to write the letter. In preparation for that, she had brought her computer with her, instead of her iPad.

She felt really down, because she was about to destroy her first real adult relationship, really her first true love. While she had broken up with him before, she had managed to stay friends, so the relationship, without the romantic part, still went on. But, this time, there was no staying friends, it was going to be a clean break, and it . She knew there was no doubt it was her fault, but felt this was the best thing for him. She no longer felt she was good for him, and while she knew this would hurt him, she didn't see any other way to keep from hurting Leonard in the future. With tears starting in her eyes, she began writing.

 **Pasadena, 7:45 AM Tuesday Nov 20th 2012**

Leonard and Sheldon were going to work. Sheldon had called Leonard's name several times, but Leonard was trying to ignore him, his thoughts on the possible reasons Penny wasn't answering. Finally, sounding exasperated, Sheldon said, "Leonard, are you listening to me?"

"To be honest, no, I'm not."

"Well, pay attention," said Sheldon, "I'm asking you an important question."

"Does it have to do with my project?" asked Leonard.

"No, it's…"

"Does it have to do with anything involving Penny and I?"

"No, but…"

"Does it have to do with anything that may cause my death or injury in the next two days?"

"No, but…"

"Then it can wait," said Leonard. "I'm thinking about what I think is a serious matter, so if you don't mind, I don't have time for anything that isn't a full-blown emergency, so just be quiet."

"Jeez, you don't have to be so grouchy," said Sheldon in a low voice, but he stayed quiet the rest of the way to the university.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 9:45 AM Tuesday Nov 20th 2012**

Leonard got to work, opened the lab, and went through his usual routine to get everything warmed up. Having finished that, he refilled his coffee cup, then made the call he knew he had to make for his peace of mind.

"Thank you for calling Zangen, this is Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, how can I help you?"

"Bernadette, this is Leonard."

"Hi Leonard," said Bernadette, "how are you doing?"

"Not too well," said Leonard.

"What's going on?" said Bernadette, concern in her voice.

"Have you talked to Penny recently?"

"Not since she was here last," said Bernadette. "We don't usually call each other. Why, what's up?"

"I'm not sure," said Leonard. "She's been avoiding my calls, not answering texts or emails, and last night, flat out lied to me."

"About what?"

"She's not coming home tomorrow," said Leonard sadly. "They are down for two weeks, and she's not coming home. She called to tell me that she was asked to do something with the parade."

"Well, that doesn't sound terrible."

"Bernadette," said Leonard, "she didn't call to tell me she wasn't coming home until last night, she played it as if they had just asked her to stay. However, she didn't bother making any kind of reservation for her flight home last week. Which means, she wasn't planning on coming home, and the parade was probably an excuse."

"Are you sure?"

Bernadette, If she was planning on coming home, she would have made the reservations last week. Then, if they asked her to stay, she would have to cancel the reservations. She didn't make any reservations, but tried to tell me it was a last minute thing. She didn't make reservations, so she wasn't coming home, and the parade is lie, to cover it up. After I pointed that out, she started stuttering and had no answer, so we ended up yelling at each other, and at the end she was sorta stuttering, Like, 'sorry…she didn't know…it wasn't fair to me', things like that. Something is going on, and she won't talk to me, so I was hoping maybe you could call her and ask. She might tell you."

"And she may not," said Bernadette. "The last time I tried, I was trying to tell her to cut down on her drinking and she wasn't exactly happy about that."

She could hear him sigh, and his next words sounded as if he was choking up, "Well, I know she isn't talking to me, I just want to find know why."

There wasn't much Bernadette could say, "OK, I'll call her tonight, and try to see what's up."

"Tonight probably won't work," said Leonard, "it's taping night, so probably won't get her."

"OK," said Bernadette, "I'll try tomorrow."

"Thanks, Bernadette," said Leonard, "I appreciate it."

"I'll call you tomorrow or Thursday," said Bernadette. "Did you decide if you are coming over for Thanksgiving?"

"No, I'm just staying home," said Leonard. "Sheldon and Amy are going to the Aquarium and will have dinner there. I suppose Raj is going to your place, I just don't feel in a festive mood."

"You should come," said Bernadette, "it might help to keep your spirits up, until I find out what is going on. And besides, I'm cooking tomorrow and Howard's mom isn't."

"Thanks Bernadette, I'll think about it, bye."

"Bye Leonard."

The both hung up, Bernadette saying out loud, to no one in her office, "What is going on, Penny?" She sighed and went back to work.

 **Studio 44, 3:00 PM Tuesday Nov 20th 2012**

They had finished the run-through, and Penny was back in her dressing room, finishing up the letter. She would go through it tonight, since she only had two scenes, and make some corrections. Tomorrow, she would print it out and mail it. That thought, like writing it, had left her in tears, but it had to be done.

She was exhausted from the emotion that had overtaken her while she was writing. Since she had over an hour, before she would eat, and then get her makeup and hair done, she decided she needed a nap. She shut her lights off, hung the do not disturb sign on her door, set her alarm and was asleep within minutes.

 **Studio 44, 7:00 PM Tuesday Nov 20th 2012**

Penny had completed her one scene in the first half of the show, and was now back in her dressing room, finishing up the changes to the wording, here and there, of the letter.

It had to be just right, and as much as she felt she'd screwed up in the last month, she wanted this to be perfect, Leonard deserved at least that. Of course, it wasn't going to be received in a good manner, but she needed to be very clear and specific, letting him know it wasn't him, it was all her, and she didn't deserve him.

The mid-show break was now in progress, and Penny had finished her corrections. Now, all she needed to do was to print it out and mail it. She waited to be called for her final scene, and when she was finished with that, she stayed down on the set, watching, until the show finished and they all took their bows. She then went back, packed everything up and tried to get out of the studio before anyone could stop her.

It's didn't work, as Kelli wanted to tell her how well she had done, and then Jim also wanted to say a few words. This was enough of a delay that Jeanie walked up, just before Jim finished.

Jeanie looked at Penny and said, "You ready to go to Jake's?"

Penny said, "I don't think I'm going tonight, just not feeling well and I'm tired." Which true enough as she wasn't feeling very good, and was exhausted from the emotional effort the letter took.

"What's wrong?"

Penny shook her head, "I have a headache, just generally not feeling well, and I'm tired."

"You coming down with something?"

"I don't know," said Penny, "just want to go home and rest."

Jeanie looked concerned, but said, "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow. You want to come with me to Boston for Thanksgiving?"

"No, I think I'll just stay right here."

"Ok, come on, you can at least walk with me to Jake's."

"OK."

Jeanie and Penny left the studio and five minutes later were at Jake's,

"You sure you don't want to come in?"

"No, Jeanie," said Penny, "I just want to go home."

"OK, see you tomorrow."

"Good night," said Penny, then she turned and started walking home.

It took Penny about ten minutes to get home, then a few more to unpack. She took out her computer and brought up the letter and printed it. She went to the printer and took it over to her table and signed it. She then put it in an envelope, added the address and return address, then put it in her purse.

With that, she went to the fridge, got a bottle of wine, it was half full, and poured her first glass. She knew it was going to be a very rough night, and she hoped the wine would help her get through it. She took a drink, then refilled the glass, went to her couch and sat down. She turned the TV on and took another drink.

 **Apt 4A, 7:00 PM Tuesday Nov 20th 2012**

Leonard had left work early, he didn't see any sense in staying as he wasn't thinking anything about work. All he was thinking about was Penny. She obviously had some sort of problem hanging over her, something she didn't seem to be able to solve, and something, it was now apparent, that she didn't want to share with him.

 _But, what could it be?_ That's what distracted him for most of the day. _Maybe I should ignore her telling me not to come, maybe I should just go and surprise her. No, that wouldn't be fair to her, to just drop in with out warning. What happens if she wasn't there?_

Speaking of home, it didn't help that he was already home, and was still trying to figure it out. _Why didn't she want to talk to me about it? What could it be?_ He was so deep in thought, he didn't hear Amy and Sheldon come home. They both said hello, and there was no answer from him.

Sheldon called his name three times, getting louder each time, until Leonard finally turned. He seemed surprised to see them. Amy was concerned, he appeared haggard, and looked like something was bothering him, "Are you doing all right, Leonard? You look troubled."

Leonard rose, and said, "I am, but it's not really your concern." Then, he turned and walked down the hallway to his bedroom, _I hope Bernadette can find out what's happening._ He closed the door and laid on his bed.

"Well that was rude," said Sheldon.

Amy, who had heard from Bernadette, was concerned, but she didn't want to tell Sheldon, as he struggled with relationships and wouldn't really understand. All she said was "I suppose it was."

 **Apt 314, 9:00 AM Wednesday Nov 21th 2012**

Jeanie arrived at Penny's apartment, and she could hear the TV. _Penny must have gotten up early_ , she thought, and knocked on the door. There was no answer, so she knocked again, harder. There was still no answer and Jeanie was slightly worried. Penny didn't feel good the night before, maybe she had a problem last night. She knocked for the third time, pounding really, and then waited, but again, no one came to the door.

Jeanie went back to her apartment, retrieved Penny's emergency key, then came back and opened the door. She walked into the apartment, and looked in her bedroom, but didn't see her. It wasn't until she came back out of the bedroom and looked in the living room, that she saw Penny laying on the couch, with the TV on. Jeanie assumed she was sleeping, until she saw the three open wine bottles on her coffee table. With those, along with the TV being on, Jeanie thought, _She_ p _robably passed out last night._

Jeanie walked over and sat down next to her. She wanted to shake her roughly, and try to shake some sense into her. But, she started gently. With no response, Jeanie began to shake her harder, until finally Penny opened one eye and looked at Jeanie.

"What are you doing here?" said Penny with a grimace.

"I might ask you what the hell are you doing?" said Jeanie. "You said you weren't feeling good, that you wanted to come home and rest, and I find you passed out on your couch, apparently having drunk three bottles by yourself. So what is going on?"

"It's only two. The first one was half empty, and one of those is half empty. As for what's going on, I told you, I don't want to talk about it," said Penny.

Jeanie wasn't having any of that, she had decided that this had gone on long enough and what Penny needed was some tough love. "Oh, you have to, I'm not giving you a choice." Before Penny could say anything, Jeanie got up and went into the kitchen to start some coffee, got a bottle of water and found some aspirin on the table, then came back into the living room. She put the water and aspirin on the coffee table, then pulled Penny into a sitting position, Penny groaning as she was pulled up.

"Here," said Jeanie, handing her the aspirin "take these. And, here's some water," handing her the bottle.

Penny took the aspirin then took a large swig from the bottle. She look at Jeanie and said "Thanks. What do you mean I have to?"

"I'm not putting up with any more excuses," said Jeanie. "Something is obviously bothering you, I've tried to take a step back, try to let you deal with it. But, you don't seem to be having any luck dealing with this yourself."

"So, here's what's going to happen," said Jeanie in an soft, but commanding tone. "I have to see my agent really quick at ten. I came down to ask you if you wanted to go and found you like this. While I'm gone, you are going to get a shower, get dressed and get some coffee into you. When I come back, we are going to sit down and you are going to tell me what the hell's been going on with you over the last few weeks."

Penny was looking up at Jeanie. To Penny, Jeanie sounded angry, and she didn't remember her sounding this way before. With the letter ready to mail, she now had no reason not to tell her, at least the origin of the problem.

She nodded and meekly said, "OK."

"Now, get up, get some coffee, and then get ready," said Jeanie. "I'll be back in about an hour, 90 minutes tops. And I expect you to be showered and dressed. And if you don't tell me, I'll call Kelli and then drag you down to the studio, so you can tell her."

With that, Jeanie, spun, then walked out of the apartment. Penny wasn't really sure what to do, so she got up, and got a cup of coffee. After a few sips, she went and got her purse, making sure the envelope was still there. She knew what she needed to do first.

She put her shoes on, found her coat, and before leaving, put a stamp on the envelope. She knew where the postbox was, so she took the elevator to the first floor, and started out the door, turning left to get to the box. Arriving at the box, she paused for a moment, unsure if she was doing the right thing. Finally, she opened the box, put the letter in and closed it. Before she could start for home, she noticed that it had started snowing. Not very hard, but she could see hundreds, if not thousands, of snowflakes, falling from the sky.

Looking at them, her eyes filled with tears. _He gave me a snowflake that would last forever, and now I've just thrown away the relationship and crushed both our hearts._

She turned and hurried back to the apartment. Once back, she took her shower, washed her hair, and then blow dried it. She then got dressed, and pouring another cup of coffee, sat at her table, waiting for Jeanie to arrive.

She was thinking, _How am I going to break the news to Jeanie._ _This isn't something you tell others, that you cheated on your boyfriend. What would her reaction be? Would she judge me and how can she help me?_

Penny didn't know the answers to any of those questions, but she kept thinking. Finally, at 11:30, there was a knock on the door. Penny answered it and invited Jeanie in. Jeanie took off her coat, went to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee, then joined Penny at the table.

"Now, what the hell is going on with you?" Asked Jeanie.

Penny still didn't know how to start, so remained silent, but tears started forming.

Jeanie noticed that, but was not going to be gentle, Penny needed to tell her, telling someone else would remove some of the pressure on her, and maybe Jeanie could help solve it. But she needed Penny to tell her, before any of that could happen, "Penny, tell me. Tell me, please. Let me help you."

Penny opened her mouth, and moved it, but nothing came out, except sobs. She tried again, and her sobs became louder.

"Penny, please tell me," said Jeanie, taking Penny's hand, "I can help you."

Penny looked at Jeanie, seeing her eyes pleading with her. After another few seconds she tried again, and managed to croak out, "I slept with Brent."

"Oh, my God, no," gasped Jeanie, putting her hand over her mouth, a look of horror coming over her face.


	58. Chapter 57

**A/N I've been thankful this week for some happy Lenny stories, writing this kind of story can wear you down. If you haven't already, give Terriblewaitres a look. As usual, I'm 20 chapters ahead in first draft. I was even able to skip a week of writing. Things were busy here, and I just didn't get to it. Actually, I figured out I could write one new chapter a MONTH, going forward, and still not delay putting out a chapter a week. But, even with skipping a week of writing, y** **ou'll be glad to know, in chapter 77 I've finally tied the story back to the first class lounge, at JFK, that we encountered in the prologue. Four more chapters, after 77, to go, plus a short epilogue.**

 **Chapter 57**

 **Apt 314,9:00 AM Wednesday Nov 21th 2012**

"How…when…why…," Jeanie sputtered. She was looking at Penny not knowing what to say, but Penny was now looking at the floor. Finally she reached out and took Penny's hand. "Tell me what happened, I won't judge."

Now that someone else knew, Penny felt as if a weight had been lifted from her. She still felt like one of the worst people in the world, and felt she deserved all the crap she was feeling, but now, thinking maybe Jeanie could help her, somehow comforted her.

Penny continued looking at the floor, because she couldn't bring herself to look in Jeanies eyes, but she squeezed Jeanie's hand, and said, "Thank you. It happened the taping night you were in Boston, with your mother."

"The previous week and even during the pre-shoots, Jim, Kelli, Steve, even the editing guy, talked to Brent and I about how our scenes looked off. They said I wasn't reacting with my body language as I should be. I figured it had something to do with how we started, how creepy he was."

"But, he had been fairly normal, even helpful for a while prior to that. I was even starting to get along with him, started feeling better about him. Well, the new script had a lot of scenes between Brent and I. They had told me I should work with Brent, run lines, get more comfortable with him."

"We got out of the taping early that night, because of all your pre-shoots, and we were at Jake's. We had gotten the scripts and he asked me to come over to work on our scenes. Everyone had said we should work on it, so since I was early, I said yeah and we went to his apartment."

"Wait, did Jim or Kelli or anybody tell you to go to his apartment?" asked Jeanie, sounding surprised.

"No, just that we should work on it," said Penny. "But, when he mentioned it, I felt like everyone was looking at me. I mean, I guess I could have waited until the next day and ran the scenes at the studio. But, I…I don't know, with them looking at me, I didn't feel like I could tell him no. So, I had one glass of wine at Jake's, and we left."

"I remember I had one glass of wine, at his place, but I don't remember anything else, until I woke up the next morning. Hungover, n-n-naked and…and…in…his…bed." Penny had started to sob as she started the last line, and when she finished she was crying, hard, with large sobs.

Jeanie pulled her chair over next to Penny, wrapped her in a hug and just held her while she cried. After a few minutes Penny's sobs subsided and Jeanie released Penny. Looking at her she asked, "Are you sure you slept with him? I mean you could have just ended up in bed…"

"No, I did," said Penny, sounding disgusted. "I don't really want to talk about how I know right now, OK?"

Jeanie nodded.

Penny continued, "I got out of there as fast as I could. I took a cab, but how I got home as messed up as I was, I don't know, it's all kinda foggy. I was so hungover, groggy, nauseous, my eyes were blurry, I was a mess. Once I got home, I cried myself to sleep. I was lucky I woke up in time to get a shower and get to the studio."

"It was a very tough week for me working with Brent," said Penny. "Remember how I ask you how do you work with someone you hate?"

Although Penny didn't see it, Jeanie nodded.

"Well since then, I've been afraid to talk to Leonard, I've been avoiding his calls, his texts, his emails. I mean, I don't even deserve to look at his picture, much less talk to him. I feel like such a slut. Also, I'm afraid I'll accidentally say something, and it would break his heart."

"Brent's been giving me snide little comments about that night, I've been trying to avoid him. But, some of the crew, the ones that hang around with Brent are also making comments, so I suppose he told them." Penny sighed, "With what I did, I deserve to get talked about like that."

Penny looked pleadingly at Jeanie and said, "What am I going to do? I've fucked this up so badly. I'm just a terrible person." She finally looked up at Jeanie, tears were forming again, "I cheated on Leonard."

Jeanie really didn't know what to say. This news was a huge shock, and she didn't know what to say. But, she was due to leave for Boston in three hours, and she didn't want to leave Penny alone.

"Get your suitcase," said Jeanie.

"What?"

"I said get your suitcase," said Jeanie. "You're coming with me to Boston for Thanksgiving. I have to leave around three, so we have just enough time to get you packed and get to the train station to get you a ticket."

"I have to be back on Saturday, so it's only a couple of days. But I am not leaving you here alone. Not after the way I found you this morning. I'm worried you may get drunk and go out and do something stupid, if I leave you alone. So, go pack, I'll help."

"But…"

"No buts," said Jeanie sternly, "pack your damn suitcase for three days, and we'll go. I don't want to hear any arguments. Move your ass."

Penny didn't know what to say, so she simply went to her bedroom to pack.

 **Apt 4A, 6:00 PM Wednesday Nov 21th 2012**

Leonard was watching TV with Sheldon. Well, he wasn't really watching, he was thinking. He had spent most of the day, at work, thinking about Penny, and what he could do to help her, with whatever was bothering her. And what he could do, to keep her.

It was frustrating as he really couldn't think of anything he could do, until he knew what kind of problem she was having. Not knowing what the problem was, and her seemingly avoiding him, had him feeling frustrated, sad, and like the whole relationship was slipping from him and he didn't know why.

Bernadette had called in the afternoon, telling him she hadn't been able to get in touch with Penny. She had called several times and it always went straight to voice mail. After the fifth time, Bernadette had left a message, and then called Leonard, so he knew she was trying.

Different things kept running though his head, was she ill? Was he doing something wrong to cause her not to want to talk to him? But worst of all, for him, was the thought that she found someone else. Maybe, someone working on the show or at the studio? He didn't know, so he couldn't help her, or think of a way to keep her, which frustrated him even more.

What he wanted was to be alone. So he got up, took his glass to the sink and started walking up the hallway.

"Leonard?"

"Yes, Sheldon," said Leonard stopping and turning around.

"Where are you going?"

"To my room," said Leonard, "I want to be alone for a bit."

"Does it have to do with Penny not contacting you?"

Though surprised at how perceptive Sheldon was, he answered, "Yes, Sheldon, it does. But how do you know about that?"

"Leonard," said Sheldon condescendingly, "it was obvious from your phone call from Bernadette. After all, you've been moping around here for the last couple of weeks and you've been muttering about not talking to Penny."

"Was it that obvious?" asked Leonard. "I thought I hid it rather well."

"Well," said Sheldon, "I suppose someone else might not notice, but I hear you muttering, see how your are acting and so forth, and with my intelligence, I suppose it was easier for me to tie it all together. Are you worried about Penny dating someone new, and dumping you?"

"Why would you say that?" said Leonard sounding exasperated.

"Well, you're an average guy," said Sheldon "so right off the bat, there are almost two billion men that are better than you."

"I'm above average in intelligence."

"Perhaps, but you are below average in height, lactose intolerance, asthma, and…"

"OK, OK," said Leonard, "I get the point. I'm trying to work this out on my own, so I would appreciate you not saying anything," said Leonard. "I'm trying to figure things out and until I do, you are not to say anything to anyone else, got it?"

Sheldon looked worried, but nodded, "You know I have trouble with secrets."

"Yes," said Leonard, "but, unless someone asks you about me, directly, you don't have to talk about it, right?"

Sheldon thought for a few seconds and nodded. Leonard said, "Thank You." And turned to walk to his bedroom.

 **South Boston Station, 9:30 PM Wednesday Nov 21th 2012**

The train had come to a stop, and Jeanie and Penny gathered their purses and small carryon bags, then exited their train car. They were looking around when suddenly Jeanie called out, "Hi dad, over here," and began waving.

Her father walked over to them, and gave Jeanie a big hug. After breaking she said, "Dad, you remember Penny?"

"Of course I do," as he wrapped her in a hug.

After they broke the hug, as they started walking to claim their baggage, Jeanie whispered to her father, "She's got some personal problems and I didn't want her to be alone on Thanksgiving. Mom usually has more food than we know what to do with, so I asked her along. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," he said. "Let's get your luggage and head on home." He took each of their carryons as they walked toward the baggage claim.

Penny and Jeanie had to trot to catch up, but they had soon gotten their luggage, and fifteen minutes later, they were headed to Jeanie's parents house.

One the way, Penny checked her messages on her phone. She saw two calls from Leonard, and five from Bernadette, and a voicemail. She went to her voicemail and hit play, then held the phone to her ear,

" **Hi Penny, this is Bernadette. Leonard's been trying to get a hold of you, and he says you haven't been answering. If you don't want to talk to him for some reason, give me a call and let me know what's wrong, OK? Hope to talk to you later, bye."**

Penny looked at the time. _I really didn't want to talk to anyone from California tonight and I'm not gonna call on Thanksgiving, I'll wait until Friday to call Bernadette._ Penny deleted the voicemail, and put her phone away for the rest of the drive to Jeanie's parent's house.

 **Apt 4A, 10:00 PM Wednesday Nov 21th 2012**

Leonard was already in bed, when he got the last call from Bernadette. She him she had left messages with Penny, and hadn't heard back. She would be busy tomorrow, with Thanksgiving dinner, so she told Leonard she would try again on Friday.

Bernadette insisted Leonard come to dinner, and she wasn't taking no for an answer. Leonard chuckled as he agreed. After all, Sheldon and Amy were going to the aquarium, and were going to have Thanksgiving dinner at the cafeteria there, so he would be alone.

They both said their goodbyes and both said, "See you tomorrow," before hanging up. Leonard put his book down, and turned off the light. He wanted to watch the parade tomorrow morning. Although he suspected Penny wasn't being honest about coming home, if she wasn't in some way involved with the parade, or even got interviewed, that would be just one more piece of the puzzle for Leonard. He rolled over and closed his eyes.

 **Boston, 8:30 AM Thursday Nov 22th 2012**

Penny woke up, _It's kinda nice not feeling hung over_ , she thought, as she stretched. She got up, went to the bathroom and washed her face. She put on her robe and went down the stairs to the kitchen.

She found Jeanie and her mom talking, while she helped her mom prepared the food for later today. It smelled so good to Penny, bringing up memories of Thanksgiving when she was small. Jeanie pointed at the coffee pot and Penny got a cup, and sat down at the table. There was some small talk, then Jeanie's mom left to get dressed.

Jeanie was looking at Penny, who felt uncomfortable under that gaze. Finally Jeanie walked over to the table, sat down, and said, "You know, we have some more talking to do."

Penny took a sip of her coffee, nodded her head and said, "I suppose so. But can it wait until tomorrow?" "I want to watch the parade, I want to relax for a change, and your mom said the dinner would be around two. I promise, we can talk, just let's enjoy the today, is that OK?"

Jeanie looked at Penny with pity, "OK, I suppose you have been through a lot." Her voice became stern, "But we will talk, I don't want you even thinking of not talking some more about it."

Penny nodded and asked, "Can we go watch the parade now?"

Jeanie nodded, rose and walked toward the living room, and the TV. Penny followed.

 **Wolowitz House 8:30 PM Thursday Nov 22th 2012**

Leonard was getting ready to leave the Wolowitz house. He had come after watching the CBS broadcast of the parade, and he didn't see Penny. He wasn't surprised, as he felt she had lied to him about coming home anyway, but without her appearance, it just confirmed it to him.

Fortunately, the group had been enjoyable, Bernadette had fixed a wonderful dinner, and the conversations after the dinner had also been fun. Watching Bernadette's father and Howard's mother interact was a show all by itself.

When Leonard had gotten up to go to the bathroom, a repeat of Penny's show had come on, and Bernadette had quickly turned the TV off, before Leonard returned.

When Leonard got back, he went and got his jacket and started saying his goodbyes to everyone. Then walked toward the door, with Bernadette walking with him. She said, "I'll start trying to call her around noon, is that all right?"

Leonard nodded, "Yeah, that's fine. I just need to find out what's going on, so any information you can get will be appreciated."

"I will try," said Bernadette. She stood on her tip toes, and gave Leonard a quick kiss on the cheek. "Take care Leonard."

"I will," said Leonard. "And, thanks for dinner. Bye."

"Bye," said Bernadette, as she turned to go back into the house.

 **Boston, 9:00 PM Thursday Nov 22th 2012**

Penny and Jeanie were in the living room, her parents had gone up to get ready for bed, leaving Jeanie and Penny alone.

Jeanie, started looking through the guide on the TV, "What do you want to watch?"

"Ohhhh, Friends," said Penny, seeing it on the guide. Jeanie nodded and selected the channel that had friends.

Penny said, "Thank you for not pushing me to talk today. It felt so relaxing just to not worry about anything, and knowing that I don't have to do this alone. I should be ready to answer most anything you ask."

Jeanie smiled at Penny, "Thank you. I wish you would have come around earlier. We might have had this all worked out by now. But, at least we can start working on it now. However, there is one thing I want you to think about."

"What's that?"

"You said, you cheated on Leonard and you also said, you don't remember anything, which means you must have been quite drunk."

"Yeah, so?"

"Penny," said Jeanie, "if you were so drunk that you can't remember, it more than likely means you were too drunk to give permission."

Penny shook her head, "No, Jeanie, I got drunk, so it's my fault."

"Penny, if you couldn't give permission, that may mean you were sexually assaulted by Brent."

Penny looked horrified, she hadn't thought about that before. But, knowing she had benn drunk and had sex before, she couldn't bring herself to believe it was anyone else's fault but hers. "How can it be his fault, and how would I know?"

Jeanie looked at her, "If you are too drunk to say yes, that almost always counts as a no. I'll know more after we talk tomorrow."

Penny just nodded and looked thoughtful.

 **Wolowitz House 10:30 AM Friday Nov 23th 2012.**

Bernadette had gotten up earlier, calling into work. She was getting information on the petri dishes that had been left out, over the holiday, for the latest experimental results on a new drug. Since this was a holiday weekend, her group had assigned different people to go in each day, she was going to have to go in on Saturday herself, to check on the petri dishes. However, for today, all she needed to do was call and get the numbers.

After talking to a coworker, and getting the results from the petri dishes, she thanked the other worker and pulled up the spreadsheet for the experiment, to enter the numbers. It had taken her about an hour to get and enter everything, then check the numbers before she closed the link to her work. After closing the link, she noticed she had an alert, about an article on Penny, as she had set up her alerts to notify her of any article on Penny. She opened her email and clicked on the link to EHNews.

The link came up, and Bernadette was faced with the headline from the article:

" **STARS FROM NY TV SHOW DATING?"**

Below that was an article claiming Penelope Jensen and Brent Crawford had started dating. There also was a picture, that the article said, had been taken at a bar called Jake's, a couple of weeks previously. The article claimed the picture caught them, just before they kissed.

Looking at the picture, Bernadette could see both Penny and Brent leaning in, looking like his arm was around her back. She had a smile on her face, and her eyes were closed. To Bernadette, as she looked at the picture, it did appear that they were about to kiss.

Bernadette was shocked by the photo, she couldn't believe what she was looking at. She wanted to yell at Penny, but she wasn't there. Then, she thought of what Leonard had said, that she wasn't talking to him, that she seemed to be avoiding him. At that, Bernadette, in a sad and angry voice, said, "Oh Penny, what have you done?"


	59. Chapter 58

**A/N I'm publishing a bit early. Our air is out (and it's August in Florida) and the guy will be here this afternoon. There is a little Howardette and Shamy in this chapter (and a little more in the next several). Finished the first draft of chapter 78 last night, and am on track for three more, and the epilogue to finish the first draft. As a warning, there are some sexual references in this one. On to it.**

 **Chapter 58**

 **Boston 11:45 PM Friday Nov 23th 2012.**

Penny and Jeanie were getting ready to talk. Jeanie had agreed to wait until after Thanksgiving, but now, she was anxious to find out more. They were in the bedroom Penny was using and had both shut their phones off, so they wouldn't be disturbed.

Jeanie started off, "OK, you told me you were sure you had sex with him, how?"

Penny looked ashamed and her stomach was upset, "I had a wet spot under me when I woke up, and something else"

Jeanie let the something else slide for now. She looked at Penny. "You don't remember anything?"

"A little bit," said Penny, "he showed me his apartment, then I sat down on the couch. I was looking for my script, while he got me a glass of wine and he got himself a beer. He brought them over, and sat across from me and we started going over lines. I remember the first scene, but nothing after that."

Jeanie looked thoughtful, "Nothing eh? Hmmmmmm."

"Along with that, Brent told me I basically attacked him by taking his clothes off…" she started choking up, "He also told me I gave him a blow job and I said some bad things about Leonard.

"OK, first off," said Jeanie, "I would treat anything that Brent told you as a lie. You were drunk, but this doesn't sound like you."

"Part of it is true, so it all could be true," said Penny looking forlorn.

"How do you know?"

Tears started in Penny's eyes, she hung her head, "After I woke up, there was something on my face, you can probably figure out…"

"Oh, jeez," said Jeanie, closing her eyes, "from what I know of you, you would never do something like this."

Penny just shook her head. "What?" Said Jeanie.

"I have done things like this before," said Penny. "After I broke up with Leonard a few years ago, I went out with a guy who was my usual type of guy. He was so stupid, and I realized I just couldn't be with those type of guys anymore."

"I was feeling pretty tipsy, but lonely, and I went to Leonard for sex. He though we were back together, and I had to tell him no. When he got drunk a couple of days later, I threw him out of my apartment when he wanted the same thing."

"When Leonard was dating that Indian woman," said Penny, "I was drinking wine, with a friend of his, and woke up the next day in Leonard's bed, with his friend, with both of us naked. I had some memory of kissing him, but nothing once we got to the bedroom."

"Then as we were trying to get out of there, Leonard and the other two guys were in the living room, so they caught us. That put a strain on Leonard's and my friendship for a while. It was soon after that, Leonard broke up with that Indian woman, and if I hadn't been in bed with the other guy, we could have gotten together sooner. Although being a slut now, has ruined that."

"His friend and I talked later, he told me he had an orgasm when I tried to put on a condom. I figured that was the truth, I mean what guy would tell a lie like that"

"So, you didn't have sex?"

"Come on Jeanie," growled Penny, "I was holding his dick, when he came. For all I know, I was giving him a handjob, that's sex in my book. The point here is that I have done this before. I have hurt Leonard twice before, doing pretty much the same thing as what happened with Brent. I don't deserve Leonard, he's so great, and I'm just a dumb, blond, drunk who'll land with her legs spread, if I fall. He doesn't deserve that and I don't deserve him."

"Dammit Penny," said Jeanie, her voice rising, "Brent was not your fault, that friend was not your fault, the thing with Leonard, I'd need more info, but you seem to remember that time. The other two? If you can't remember, you were too drunk to give consent."

"But they were drunk too," said Penny.

"Doesn't matter," said Jeanie, "if you can't give consent, they should have just left you alone."

Penny couldn't quite believe it wasn't her fault, after all, she was the one who got drunk, she had to be responsible. But, the way Jeanie had put it, she could see where it might not be her fault. She felt confused, but looked at Jeanie, shook her head, and said, "It's my fault Jeanie, I'm the one that got drunk."

"No dammit," said Jeanie, "it's not your fault. I've been in the same situation, drank too much and ended up in bed with someone I shouldn't have been in bed with, and couldn't remember."

Penny looked shocked, "You?" "Yes, me," said Jeanie. "A lot of women have it happen to them."

"In Nebraska, we call them skanks."

"Oh, really," said Jeanie sarcastically, "so, I'm a skank?"

"No, no, I didn't mean…"

Get that through your head, if a woman can't remember, because she was too drunk, it's not the woman's fault" You might think about going to the police."

"I can't do that," said Penny, dejectedly. "It's his word against mine, and no one is going to believe me, at least not now anyways. It was several weeks ago and they'll ask why I waited. Face it, I lost control, I got drunk, and I slept with Brent. It's all on me. The big question, now, is what am I going to do?"

Jeanie said, "The only thing I have right now is to talk to Leonard, but you don't want to do that."

Tears started in Penny's eyes as she shook her head, "It will just hurt him too bad, and I can't do that to him."

Jeanie diplomatically didn't point out what she was doing was probably hurting him, "Then I don't have an answer for you right now. I'm going to have to think about it some more, and try to come up with an answer."

 **Wolowitz's Apartment 9:00 AM Friday Nov 23th 2012.**

Bernadette called Penny, but her call went right to voicemail. Bernadette left a message:

" **Penny, I need to talk to you, please call me."**

After hanging up, Bernadette had no idea what to do. As she sat there, Howard came in, got a cup of coffee and joined her at the table.

"What's wrong?" asked Howard. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Bernadette didn't know quite how to explain this to Howard, so she was quiet for several seconds, "Howie, you've got to promise me, you can't say anything about what I'm going to tell you, until I tell you it's OK."

Howard looked concerned, "Sure, whatever you say."

"Leonard asked me to call Penny," said Bernadette, "and try to find out what's wrong."

"Why doesn't he just call her?" said Howard, taking a sip of coffee.

"He's been trying," said Bernadette, "but, she doesn't answer his calls, she won't answer his emails and texts, and she only calls sporadically, and then cuts it short. He thought she might talk to me."

"OK," said Howard, "so why all the secrecy?"

"I found this, this morning," said Bernadette, as she opened her computer, changed tabs, then spun the computer around, so Howard could see the screen. As he read, Bernadette could see Howard's mouth drop open, then he said, "Oh God. What did Penny do?"

"We don't know, Howie," said Bernadette. "We don't know anything. That's one of those rag papers, that'll print lies, that's why you can't say anything, until I can talk to Penny and hear what's really happening."

Howard just nodded, a look of shock still on his face.

 **Apt 4A 1:00 PM Friday Nov 23th 2012.**

Leonard was working on his idea for the reflections, and he wasn't getting anywhere. He had run up against a brick wall, both from lack of data from Geoff, and Sheldon not getting back with him.

He had heard Sheldon come out to the kitchen, pour his cereal, and take it to the couch to eat. While he had heard him, he wasn't paying any attention to him, and continued on working on the equations on his white board.

He was surprised to hear Sheldon's voice, "Leonard?"

He turned around and said, "Yes, Sheldon."

"I think I may have something," said Sheldon, "it doesn't quite fit with your idea, but it may go beyond it."

Leonard was instantly attentive, "What?"

"Actually, it's a bit different from your idea, theoretically," said Sheldon. "But, it does use your data, and the data from the guy at Oxford."

"What is it?"

"I don't have it all worked out," said Sheldon, "but, I can explain, what I'm trying to do, in rather simple terms." He paused here, looking like he was thinking.

"What if those unknown weak reflections are actually gravitons?"

"That would be great," said Leonard, "but, how would we know?"

"That's just it," said Sheldon. "We don't have the equations to describe the reflections, because we don't have the quantum equations to describe gravity. But, what if we were to assume those were reflections from gravitons. We would have the shape, and we might be able to determine, using the equations to determine the shapes of the other particles, what equations would give us those shapes."

"We could then try to match those equations, with those of Quantum Field Theory. If we were able to do that, we would basically be trying to reverse engineer the equations, perhaps finding the equations for gravity in Quantum Field Theory. Then we could use those equations, to solve some other gravitational problems, ones to which we have answers."

"Can we do that?"

"I don't know," said Sheldon. "It's something I came up with this weekend. Basically, I'd look for the equations that give up the shape, using similar equations for other particles. Then, I try to get from the Quantum Field Theory equations, to the equations describing the reflections. But, it's going to be mostly trial and error."

"There are so many possibilities, remember the infinities in the equations, finding the right one, even using the other particles to find a possibility, is going to be rather difficult. Then, we have to see if we can reduce these energy levels to get an effective theory, and then see if it holds for everything. This may be more than anyone can ever work out, even for me."

Leonard was immediately impressed as to how hard this might be. For Sheldon to say it would be difficult for himself, is something that Leonard didn't ever remember hearing Sheldon say. "Hmmmm, so, what are our options?"

"I'm not sure," said Sheldon. "You didn't mention this before, so I'm not sure how to proceed with this. I mean, I can work on what I've come up with, but then I don't believe it's your work any longer."

Leonard thought for a moment. _It's true, it wouldn't be my work, but then, my work hasn't really produced anything, yet. Whereas, if Sheldon can tease out some theoretical things, he could get all four forces under one theory, something even Einstein couldn't do._

"How's this Sheldon," said Leonard. "I'll continue to work on my idea, while you look at what you've come up with."

"Leonard," said Sheldon, "when are you going to learn not to end a sentence with a preposition?"

"Do you agree or don't you?"

"Yes, I agree," said Sheldon. "I do have a question. How do you want to split priority?"

"Hmmmmm, if it's your idea, I'd say, you get all the credit," said Leonard. "I wanted you to look over my idea, and you came up with something else. Look, if you want to say your work came out of my work, or even reference my papers, that's fine, because I'd be happy with being a small part of it."

Sheldon thought a bit before nodding his head. "Sort of your work, leading to mine. If I need you to help me with something, although I can't really see that happening, I will give you more credit when I write up the paper."

"That's fine, Sheldon," said Leonard. "Now, let me get back to my work."

"And I will get back to mine," said Sheldon.

 **Apt 314 5:00 PM Saturday Nov 24th 2012.**

Penny had just sat down at her table. Her and Jeanie had gotten into Penn station at 4 PM, only an hour late from Boston. But, between getting their baggage and a cab, it had taken them another hour to get back to the apartment.

Jeanie had to be on location, she was shooting a commercial, at 4 AM for makeup and rehearsal. She had to be there so early, because they were going to shoot as the sun was coming up. Due to this, Jeanie had decided to look over her lines, have dinner and get to bed, leaving Penny alone for the rest of the night.

Penny and Jeanie had talked on the way home. Jeanie, strongly suggested that she talk to Leonard. Penny, somewhat sarcastically ask, what she should talk to him about, sex with Brent or getting drunk enough to wind up naked in bed with someone else, again?

Jeanie got angry and told Penny if she didn't want any help fine, handle it herself. Penny apologized and just said she had no idea what to talk to him about. And, besides, she didn't think she deserved him anymore.

Jeanie said she would try to think of something else, but it wouldn't be until tomorrow. Penny nodded, knowing Jeanie didn't have all the information, as of yet. She might have to tell her tomorrow.

She was sipping some wine, when her phone rang. Penny looked at the name and number and saw it was Bernadette. Remembering she had left a message to call her back, and didn't, Penny accepted the call and said, "Hello."

"Don't you hello me, Penny," said Bernadette, with a touch of anger.

"What?"

"What the hell is going on Penny?" Said Bernadette. "Why haven't you been answering Leonard calls and texts?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Penny evasively.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about," said Bernadette. "Leonard told me you haven't been answering any of his messages. Does it have to do with the pictures of you out with someone else, looking like you were going to kiss him?"

Penny was genuinely confused, "What? Honest Bernadette, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then explain the picture on the front page of EHNews."

Penny click on her iPad, and clicked on EHNews as waited. She gasped when the picture came up. "Oh my God, no. How did they get that?"

Bernadette was doing a slow burn, "It doesn't matter how they got it, does it? It just matters that that they did get it, and you seem to recognize it. How could you Penny? Do you understand how confused and hurt Leonard is, because you aren't answering his calls and texts? And, he doesn't even know about this picture yet."

Penny could well imagine Leonard confused, and unhappy because she wasn't calling back, it was part of the huge amount of guilt she was feeling.

 _How the hell did they get that picture? We weren't doing anything. How'd they make it look so sleazy? And, he doesn't know about the picture or the letter yet._ Those thoughts started her crying, "I can't talk about this," said Penny, her voice cracking.

Bernadette could hear the change in her voice, "Why, because you are dating him?"

Penny was now sobbing, "It isn't, what it seems…it isn't…it isn't," sounding like she was pleading.

"Then what is it?" asked Bernadette.

Penny had no answer for her, "I can't, I don't know…the let...I can't…"

"What was happening, Penny?"

Bernadette saw the call disconnect. _Dammit Penny, you sounded so guilty and you didn't flat out deny it. What is really going on? Are you really dating him?_ She tried to call back, but it went to voicemail. Bernadette didn't leave a message. She had to cool down, before trying again. Bernadette really felt bad for thinking it, but it appeared that Penny was now dating her co-star, and was no longer with Leonard. And it appeared Leonard didn't know.

 **2311 Los Robles, 4:00 PM Saturday Nov 24th 2012.**

Leonard entered the building, with several comics. He had left to go to Stuart's comic book shop around 1 PM. Amy had come over and was going to help Sheldon film another episode of "Fun With Flags".

He had stopped for lunch, spent a couple of hours looking through the magazines, and then spent some time talking with Stuart, and was now looking forward to some dinner, and some time playing Grand Theft Auto.

He stopped to check the mail, and found a couple of bills, a couple of science magazines, and a letter. Looking at it, he was surprised to see it was from Penny. He started climbing the stairs, and stuffed the other things into his comic book bag, finally started opening the letter, as he reached the third floor.

 **Apt 4A 4:00 PM Saturday Nov 24th 2012.**

Sheldon and Amy were arguing. They had done 30 takes of the first scene and they still hadn't gotten it right. For the 31st take, they finally got through it with no errors, but one of them had forgotten to push the record button. Sheldon maintained it was Amy's fault, while Amy pointed out that Sheldon had hit the record button for the first 30.

Although they had managed to record it on the 32nd try, Sheldon was still upset by it. They had just laid out the flags they would be using in the second segment. Sheldon sat down, and waited for Amy to push the record button, she wasn't going to give him a chance to blame her again. She started the recording and sat down next to Sheldon.

However, before they could speak, they heard a loud "AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH" then there was a bang on the door, followed by a louder bang on the door, before a softer thunk.

Sheldon and Amy rose, went to the door and opened it. They found Leonard sitting on the floor, his bag sitting next to him, with an envelope and a couple of sheets of paper scattered on the floor around him.

As surprised as Sheldon and Amy were to see the scene, they were even more surprised by Leonard. He was sobbing loudly.

 **A/N I'll put this down here, so it won't spoil the chapter. If you can't remember where the picture comes from, look at the chapter titled as "Chapter 46", it's listed as the 47th, due to the prologue.**


	60. Chapter 59

**A/N This was a bit tricky to write, I have to thank my reader, TBBT78 and my copy editor, bfm10 for their story suggestions. BTW, if you aren't reading both of their latest stories, you should be. Incorporating their suggestions, and getting the second drafts of several chapters to** **bfm10, for copy editing (not to mention the hurricane and some traveling this week) took some time. As a result, I didn't get any first draft material written for the last few chapters (three left, plus the epilogue). I'll get to that this week.**

 **Chapter 59**

 **Apt 4A 6:00 PM Saturday Nov 24th 2012.**

Sheldon and Amy had gotten Leonard to lay on the couch, Sheldon objecting mildly because he was in his spot.

Amy looked at Sheldon and, wanting to keep him quiet, said sternly, "Sheldon, your friend is hurting, what do you do to help?"

"Fix a hot beverage," said Sheldon in an embarrassed fashion.

"What kind of hot beverage?"

"Tea."

"Then get over there and start it," said Amy. Sheldon shuffled over to the stove, while Amy turned back to Leonard.

He had been repeating "She dumped me," over and over. Amy had gathered the papers, and put them on his desk, but had not looked at them. She called Bernadette, and gave her a shortened version of what had happened, and Bernadette said her and Howard would be there in thirty minutes.

Amy had been able to get Leonard to sit upright, just as Sheldon brought the tea. There were still tears on Leonard's cheeks, as he took a sip of the tea. Sheldon sat in his spot, while Amy asked Leonard some questions. Leonard did not answer, but Amy stayed sitting with him until Bernadette and Howard arrived.

Howard took Amy's place and tried to cheer him up, but Leonard wasn't reacting. Amy pulled Bernadette off to the kitchen and gave her the longer version, in a whisper, including what Leonard had been repeating.

Bernadette, considered her conversation with Penny earlier. A thought occurred to her, and she asked Amy about the letter. Amy said she had put it over on his desk, without looking at it. Bernadette looked at Amy like she was crazy, and walked over to the desk, got the letter and brought it back to the island. Her and Amy both read:

 _Dear Leonard,_

 _This is probably the hardest letter I've ever had to write. You have given me great joy, for the last five years, joy I realize now, I don't deserve._

 _I am not worthy to be your partner, not in the least. Most of the emotional pain you have felt over the last five years, has been my doing. Whether I teased you, knowing how you felt about me and your hobbies, or I was flirting with others when we were going out, I know it caused you pain, and it was my fault._

 _I would get mad at you, for stupid reasons, trying to blame you for problems, or trying to find things to get mad at you, trying to sabotage the relationship. It has brought you pain, and it was me who caused you the pain, it's all my fault, not yours._

 _This doesn't even count how badly I treated you when I broke up with you in the bowling alley, or when I used you for sex after we broke up, or the worst, when you saw me coming out down the hallway, with Raj. I saw the look on your face, I know I hurt you._

 _Although I blamed you, because I couldn't date the type of guys I used to date, it wasn't your fault. Maybe those are the type of guys I should date. I understand them, I feel comfortable around them, probably because I'm as fucking stupid as they are._

 _I mean, I have to get a dictionary to understand when you talk about your work, and that doesn't even include the scientific words. Let's face it, I never understood the science, even a lot of basic stuff, and I would zone out when you talk about your work. I now understand, it's because I'm so stupid, and it's not what I need to know, to work at the Cheesecake Factory, or as an actress._

 _It's really fucking obvious, that it's best for you if we don't see each other anymore. I am not the right person for you. You should find someone with intelligence, who likes your hobbies, who is a good and wonderful person, who would never hurt you, someone like yourself, not like me. You need to find someone like that, you deserve to find someone like that, maybe that girl you met in the comic book store. Not some dumb, blond skank, who fucking hurts you all the time._

 _You don't deserve someone like me, who does stupid stuff, and isn't worthy, and shouldn't be with someone as wonderful as you. Thinking about it the last few days have made me realize that I have been unfair to you, at best, and I was a flat out bitch to you, more times than I can count. Maybe, one day, I'll find someone, who treats me as bad as I treated you, so I can feel the pain that I've caused you. It's what I deserve._

 _Please do not call or try to contact me. Breaking up with you is difficult enough, without seeing your name come up on my phone or computer. I will be tempted to answer, and you don't deserve that. We were able to work through things, and stay friends the last time I broke up with you. What I have done, this time, has made staying friends with you impossible in my mind, because it would cause you even more pain, pain you don't deserve._

 _I am so sorry, for it to come to this. But, I know it hurts you when I don't answer or return your calls or texts. But, I am too scared to tell you the reasons, and cause you even more pain._ _I am truly thinking of what's good for you. While this letter might hurt you, it's better to hurt you now, once, than to keep hurting you over and over again._

 _I hope you can forgive me at some point, but I understand if you can never forgive me. I know I am doing what's best for you, so you won't have to suffer being with me, and my causing you pain any more. I'm sorry._

 _Penny._

Bernadette was nodding her head. Between this letter, the image online, and Penny's reaction, it was all starting to make sense.

Amy saw Bernadette nodding, "Oh my God, do you know something about this?"

Bernadette kept nodding.

"Well," said Amy, "if you know something, tell me. What the hell happened with Penny?"

Bernadette pulled out her phone and brought up the EHNews site and showed it to Amy. It only took a few seconds until Amy said, "What the hell, Penny?!"

"I know," said Bernadette. "I talked to Penny earlier today, she didn't deny it. But, she didn't confirm it, so I didn't know if she is dating him. Now, with this letter, it looks like she is."

"Poor Leonard," said Amy. "Between the letter and this article, no wonder he's so crushed."

"That's just it," said Bernadette, "I don't think Leonard knows about the picture and article."

"What?"

"Yeah, if he did know about the picture and article," said Bernadette, "I don't think he would have reacted the way he did to the letter. It would have given him some kind of warning."

"So what can we do for him now?"

Bernadette shook her head, "I don't know. I'm going to try and call Penny again tomorrow, and try to find out what's going on. Meanwhile, we have to watch Leonard. You talk to Sheldon about keeping an eye on him, Howard will come over tomorrow and bring him to the house, and we'll watch him."

"Right now, I'll send Howie out for some food, and after we eat, we can all head home, you could stay here until Sheldon goes to bed. Now, go get Sheldon and tell him our plans, but don't let him object. OK?"

Amy nodded, and while Bernadette watched her walk to Sheldon, she was thinking that whatever happened to Leonard after this, she hoped life would be kinder to him.

 **Wolowitz Apartment 1:30 PM Sunday Nov 25th 2012**

Bernadette was trying to keep Leonard's mind off of Penny, and not succeeding. Howard had picked up Leonard at 9 AM. He had talked to Sheldon and found that after they got him to bed, he had spent the whole night in his bedroom, as far as Sheldon knew.

Howard entered Leonard's room, and found him awake, staring at the ceiling. Howard got him up, gotten him ready, and brought him over to Howard and Bernadette's apartment.

Bernadette had tried talking to Leonard about his work, while Howard tried to talk to him about games, comic books, science fiction, anything. Leonard didn't react to either of them very much, only an occasional answer to their questions. He spent most of his time just staring at the wall, every now and then breaking into sobs, or simply saying, "Why?".

Finally, Bernadette tried to call Penny. When she didn't get an answer, she said rather desperately, "Penny, please, I need to talk to you about Leonard, he's really bad." With that she disconnected and waited, hoping Penny would soon call.

 **Apt 314 5:00 PM Sunday Nov 25th 2012**

Penny was laying on her couch, while the symptoms of her hangover had finally ceased, she still felt depressed, guilty, and embarrassed. _A hangover is bad enough, but depression and guilt, at the same time, is a real bitch,_ she thought.

She had drunk rather heavily after Bernadette's call, and she knew Leonard would get the letter sometime during the weekend. This just added to her feeling that she needed to drink to forget about her troubles. _Unfortunately, drinking doesn't work the next morning,_ thought Penny.

Verification that he got the letter came through Saturday night. Although she asked him not to contact her, there were eight different calls from him through the night, and one voicemail. It pained her to listen to it:

" **Penny, please, please tell me what I did wrong, there has to be more to it than what you wrote. Please let me know. I love you."**

She heard Bernadette's ringtone on her phone, and just let it ring. After the way the call with Bernadette ended last night, she wasn't ready to talk to her today. After a few minutes, she heard the tone telling her she had a voicemail, _I'll get it later_ , she thought.

She did get up, going to the kitchen, looking for something to eat. She wasn't really hungry, she hadn't been hungry all weekend. Her stomach had been upset, and she tried to convince herself it was because she had some sort of bug. But, she knew it was how bad she felt, emotionally, that caused her stomach to feel the way it did.

Still, she knew she had to eat, so she dug around and found some ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes and made herself a salad, which she took into her living room ate while she was watching TV.

After finishing, she washed her dishes, put them in the drainer to dry, then went back out to watch some more TV. She was feeling a bit guilty about Bernadette. First, not answering, and then not listening to the voicemail, even though she knew it was there. She walked over to her counter, picked up her phone, to listen to the message.

 **Wolowitz Apartment 4:00 PM Sunday Nov 25th 2012**

Howard and Bernadette were getting a bit more response from Leonard. He had apologized for being so unresponsive, and both of them had told him it was understandable, considering the circumstances.

Leonard had raised the possibility of going to New York, to at least see Penny, and maybe even talk to her. Howard seemed supportive, but before Bernadette could say anything, her phone rang, and when she looked at the screen, she excused herself, and took it into the bedroom.

She answered, with "Hello, Penny."

"Is Leonard all right?" Asked Penny, sounding worried. "You said it was bad, was there an accident…is he hurt?"

"His heart's broken," said Bernadette, "Penny, how could you write that letter? He was crying most of last night, now he's here, sobbing, and he hasn't been answering us, it's like he's catatonic. All because of that letter. Why?"

"Have you seen the letter?" Asked Penny.

"Yes, I have."

"Then you know why," said Penny.

"No, I don't know why," said Bernadette. "I saw excuses, I saw you hating on yourself, but not the actual reasons. I don't think that's the whole story. I think the way you're acting has something to do with that picture, am I right?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with the picture," said Penny, "Something did happen, but not with the picture, so it's not what you think."

"You didn't deny it before," said Bernadette, with an accusatory tone, "so I'll ask again, are you going out with him?"

Penny knew she couldn't tell her the whole story, and she was pissed about tone in Bernadette's voice, so she said flippantly, "So what if I am?" _At least that's not a lie, I'm just asking her._

Bernadette gasped, then said, "Penny how could you, without breaking up with Leonard first?"

Penny was getting angry "Look, I'm not explaining myself to you, if you don't want to believe me when I say it doesn't have anything to do with the picture, then fine. I only have to explain myself to Leonard, and I've done that."

"Actually, no you didn't, just some bullshit excuses," said Bernadette. "Why are you so defensive, Penny? What the hell has gotten into you? I'm trying to help you."

"Who asked you to help?" Said Penny, made more angry by Bernadette figuring out she was being defensive.

"Penny, I care about you, and you seem upset by whatever is going on," said Bernadette. "Is there something about your anger, the picture, how you are treated Leonard, that you're not telling me?"

"What the hell is it to you?"

"Because, I also care about Leonard, and he's upset by your letter," said Bernadette. "He's thinking of flying to New York to talk to you."

"He can't come here," said Penny, sounding panicked.

"Why not Penny?"

"Because nothing is going to change my mind," said Penny. "I simply can't see him. You tell him that. I can't see him. Is there anything else?"

"Penny, I've got a friend that's angry, and one that is hurting terribly. I'm trying to help both of them."

"Well, just leave me out of it," said Penny.

"Penny…"

"If I want your help, I'll ask," said Penny. "But, don't wait for me to ask."

Bernadette heard the phone go dead, and simply hung up.

 **Apt 314 7:30 PM Sunday Nov 25th 2012**

Penny was sobbing. Her anger hadn't lasted all that long, and now she knew Leonard was taking it very hard, which upset her. _Damn it, I sould have known he woud take it hard_. She was also upset with herself, for getting mad at Bernadette. _She doesn't know the whole story, and is just trying to protect Leonard._

 _Protect Leonard_ thought Penny, _something I should be doing but, instead I've hurt him horribly again. Penny you are just a stupid, stupid slut, who's scared to face him._ And with that thought, her eyes filled with tears, and she started crying again. _Why do I do that to him? I love him and he loves me. He wants to take care of me, and all I do is hurt him over and over._

 _Maybe in a few years, I can learn to treat him better, then I…oh who am I kidding, someone will find out what a great guy he is, treat him right, give him the love he deserves and he'll stay with them. Just another reason for him to find someone else. He doesn't deserve to wait for love, and I don't deserve someone as good as him._

Penny got up and went to her kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of wine. It was going to be a rough night for her, and she needed something to forget her pain, and the feeling of guilt. She was on hiatus, and didn't have to go into work, so another night of drinking was her plan. She wold remember all her problems in the morning, but tonight, all alone, it will be better to drink, and try to forget.

 **Wolowitz Apartment 4:30 PM Sunday Nov 25th 2012**

"Howie, could you come here for a minute?" Said Bernadette, sticking her head out of the bedroom.

"Sure," said Howard, turning to Leonard he said, "hold the thought buddy, I'll be right back." Howard walked into the room, and said to Bernadette, "What's up?"

Bernadette looked at him sadly, "I just talked to Penny. We got a bit angry at each other, but when I specifically asked her about dating the guy in the picture, her response was 'So what if I am?' It's like she admitted it right there."

"Hold on," said Howard, "she didn't say she was, just what if she was, right?"

"Howie," said Bernadette, "I gave her a chance to flat out deny it, and she didn't. Instead, she practically admitted it, however she chose to say it."

Howard thought about it for a minute. While her choice of words wasn't an admission, if she wasn't seeing that other guy, she would have come right out and said it, and she didn't. He nodded and said, "So what do we do now?"

"Is he still talking about going there and trying to talk to her?"

"Yeah," said Howard, "he's talking of just dropping in and surprising her."

"That could be very bad, for him." said Bernadette, "Something is going on that she isn't telling anyone. She said he can't come and she won't see him, what if she's with that other guy?"

"Do you think we should tell him?"

Bernadette sighed, "I think we have to. We can't let him run off and make a fool of himself. And even if the other guy isn't there, Penny told him not to contact her. Yeah, we have to."

"No," said Howard, "He's been my friend for a while, I'll tell him."

"We should both tell him."

Howard shook his head, "Let me."

Bernadette gave him her phone, "Here, I have the site up."

Howard took the phone and indicated Bernadette should wait there. Leonard was sitting on the sofa, and Howard sat in the chair.

Leonard looked at him, and said, "What's up? I know I'm having a bad day, but you look like you're having a worse one."

"Listen, buddy," started Howard. "You were talking about going to see Penny, but I don't think it's such a good idea."

"Why not?" Said Leonard. "You were telling me earlier I should."

"Well, we know about something else, now, that I think will make a difference," said Howard. "Bernadette found it and she's talked to Penny, it looks like it could be the cause of the letter."

Leonard looked puzzled, "What's going on?"

Howard knew this was going to hurt Leonard badly, but he gave him the phone. "Bernadette found this yesterday morning. She talked to Penny, and she's not denying it. Look at the picture and read the article." Howard put his hand on Leonard's shoulder, "I'm sorry Leonard."

Leonard took the phone and looked at the picture, and read the headline, and it felt like a kick to the stomach. As he read the article, his stomach became upset, and his eyes filled with tears. When he finished, he handed the phone back to Howard, buried his face in his hands, and let his head drop to his knees. All Howard heard, between Leonard's sobs, was his repeating, "No, no, no, no, no."

Howard saw Bernadette come out of the bedroom. He looked at her and mouthed, "What can we do?"

Bernadette shrugged, shook her head and mouthed back, "I don't know".


	61. Chapter 60

**A/N Not much to say. I'm struggling a bit with the current first draft chapter, but it's just moving slow. There is some research I've had to do, and that's also time I'm not writing. Fortunately, it's not preventing me from publishing this chapter. I know it's taken a while, but the wheels will start to turn, setting up the end. For example, next chapter, ends with a bit of a surprise, also ending part three.**

 **Chapter 60**

 **Apt 314 10:30 AM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Penny finally heard someone knocking at her door, and also heard the doorbell. She struggled, but managed to get up, put on her robe and with some effort, made it to the door. She looked out the peephole and saw it was Jeanie. She opened the door and turned around to walk away.

"I've been knocking for ten minutes," said Jeanie closing the door. Jeanie turned around, "Is there something wrong? Are you doing all right?"

Penny stopped and turned around, giving Jeanie her first good look at Penny. She gasped and said, "Oh my God, Penny, were you drinking again last night?"

"Yeah, I was," said Penny. "Put on some coffee, I want to take some aspirin, and get a shower. I really need to tell you something."

"You mean you haven't told me enough over the last few days?"

"No, not everything, I have more," said Penny sounding downcast. "Just get the coffee, and let me get my shower." Penny walked toward her bedroom. Jeanie watched her walk away, shook her heard, and went to make the coffee."

 **Apt 4A 8:00 AM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Sheldon was puzzled. He was in the middle of eating his oatmeal, and someone was knocking on the door. No one knocked on the door, at this hour, so he called for Leonard. But, Leonard didn't appear, so he put his oatmeal down on the table and walked over to the door.

He opened it and found himself staring at Howard. "What are you doing here?"

"I came over to take you and Leonard to work, but I wanted to talk to you first."

"Whatever about?"

"Sheldon, sit down." Howard walked over to the chair Leonard usually sat in, with Sheldon sitting in his spot.

"OK," started Howard, "you know Penny broke up with Leonard."

"Yes, I was here when he got the letter," said Sheldon. "You were here and Amy told me about what was actually written in the letter. I'm not sure if that was information I really wanted to know."

"Sheldon," snapped Howard, "there's something you don't know about it yet. There is a picture in an entertainment magazine. It appears that Penny is dating one of the other stars on the show. Leonard found out about it, and it's hit him pretty hard."

"Well, I told him that the other day," said Sheldon.

"Told him what?"

"I told him, since he was average, there were billion's of other men who were better than he was, so the reason Penny was acting so strange was she found another man."

Howard was amazed that someone who had absolutely no clue about relationships, could be so perceptive at the same time. "Yes, Sheldon, well, it had hit Leonard very hard, so you need to treat him a bit better, than you usually do, be supportive, don't speak to him with your usually condescension, until he gets some sense of balance back. Do you think you can do that?"

"Of course," said Sheldon, "do you think I'm incapable of treating someone with kindness or being supportive?"

"Let's just say your track record hasn't been the best, and leave it there."

"How is explaining his shortcomings, so he can correct them, not being supportive?"

"There, that," said Howard, "right there, what you just said, is what I'm talking about. All you should be saying is positive things, not telling him what you think is wrong with him. Try to help him get over this."

"I can do that," said Sheldon. "Can I get back to my oatmeal now?"

Howard sighed, and realized that was the best he was going to get out of Sheldon, and just didn't say anything else about being supportive. "Where's Leonard?"

"I would say getting a shower," said Sheldon, "since it's his bathroom time, but I don't hear the shower, so I don't know where he is."

Howard walked back to Leonard's bedroom, and opened the door. Leonard was still asleep, so Howard woke him up and told him to get ready for work. Leonard rolled over and told Howard he wasn't going to work today.

At this, Howard threw the blanket off of Leonard and said, "You are going to get up, get your shower, and get dressed. I know you're feeling bad about things right now, but that's no reason not to go to work. Now get up, and get ready like I told you, then I'm taking you to work."

"OK, OK," said Leonard, "you don't have to get so mean." Leonard got up, put his robe on and walked down to the bathroom. Howard looked amazed and said, "Wow, I wonder if that will work on Bernadette?"

 **Apt 314 11:30 AM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Jeanie was sitting at Penny's table, drinking her coffee, waiting for Penny. Penny had taken some aspirin, before getting her shower, taking a long shower, letting the water beat on her for almost twenty minutes before she started washing.

She then dried and dressed and finally made it back out to where Jeanie was waiting. Penny got herself a cup of coffee before sitting down across from Jeanie.

"So, what else do you have to tell me?" asked Jeanie. "Did you remember something that happened that night? Maybe something else Brent said?"

Penny looked at Jeanie sadly, "No, it's got nothing to do with Brent…well, it does, because of what happened."

Penny was trying to figure out a way to tell her. She realized there wasn't really any other way, other than to just tell her, but she still tried to ease into it.

"It's really been unfair of me to keep this from Leonard," said Penny, "and I'm probably hurting him, by not telling him. But, if I tell him, I'll just hurt him more. I couldn't decide which would hurt him more, so I did neither of them."

"What other option was there?"

"I wrote and sent him a letter," said Penny. She paused, she tried to continue, but it was difficult. Jeanie noticed tears rolling down her cheeks. Finally, Penny said, "I told him I wasn't good enough for him. That I didn't deserve anyone as good as him, that he deserved better than me. Because of that, I told him it was best, for him, if I just broke it off with him."

Jeanie was shocked, "You broke up with him by sending him a letter? Penny."

"I know, I know," said Penny. "But, I couldn't face him or talk to him. Just remember, it's best for him."

"But why, he didn't do anything."

Tears were now streaming down Penny's face, "No, I did something wrong. I meant it, I'm not good enough for him. I keep on hurting him, and he doesn't deserve it. To protect him, it's best, for him, if I just let him go find someone he deserves."

"Penny, you messed up once," said Jeanie, "If you just explain to him, how it was a mistake, tell him it won't happen again. and…"

"No, dammit," said Penny forcefully, "I can't tell him that, he knows that is a lie."

"How can it be a lie, if…"

"Jeanie, I've done this before," said Penny. "In high school, I'd get drunk and have sex with a guy I wouldn't normally have had sex with."

"That was high school, we're talking about now…"

"It doesn't matter," said Penny, "I've hurt Leonard twice before, while drinking…"

"Wait," said Jeanie, sounding puzzled, "you've done this to Leonard before?"

Penny, looking uncomfortable, said, "We weren't together at the time, but, yes, a couple of times I've hurt him after getting drunk."

"But you got passed that," said Jeanie, "you got back together."

"Jeanie, the point is, I've done it before," said Penny, "I make a promise to myself not to do it again, but here we are. So, it's very possible, if I stay in the business, it'll happen again. I can't let that happen to Leonard. The best thing for both of us is to do what I've done, break it off."

Jeanie was looking at her, and finally said, "I still think it would be better for you to call and talk to him, or if you're still worried about talking to him, write him a letter and tell him why, ask him to forgive you. Maybe wait for a month or so and go back to LA and talk to him. Like over Christmas, we're off for a few weeks, go back and actually talk to him."

Penny looked at Jeanie, _she doesn't understand,_ _she doesn't know how much I hurt Leonard before, how much I just hurt him…I don't want to hurt him anymore._

Penny shook her head, "I don't know, I just don't want to hurt him anymore. I'll think about it, but I really don't deserve him anymore. And, I'm thinking about just quitting and going back to Nebraska, I can't go back to California."

Jeanie was shocked, but didn't say anything, something else was bothering her, and she had to ask, "Penny, have you seen a doctor yet?"

 **Caltech Cafeteria 10:30 AM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Leonard had come down to the cafeteria. He hadn't slept very well, and Howard woke him up early, so he needed to get some of the stronger coffee, in the cafeteria. He also really wasn't in the mood to work.

The whole week had been depressing. Penny had been talking to him only rarely, then he found out she wasn't coming home, then found out she was lying to him, and then the letter. He didn't think it would get worse, but coming to work, was worse.

First, every time he came out of his apartment, he saw the door to Penny's apartment, and the punch in the gut feeling came back. This morning, he had to listen to Sheldon complain about being late, because Leonard got up late. Howard finally telling Sheldon to shut up.

On the way to the university, they passed The Cheesecake Factory, and then when he got to his office, there was a picture of Penny. All of this just made hm feel worse, he thought about putting the picture of Penny in a drawer, but he kept it out.

He knew he would see the Cheesecake Factory every time he went to and from work, and 4B every time he left the apartment. He thought he could just change his route, but then realized he would think about why he was changing his route, and he would still see 4B, so he just looked down at the table.

Suddenly he heard, "Are you OK, Dr… er… Leonard?"

Leonard looked up to see Alex standing in front of him.

"I suppose Sheldon told you what happened?"

"Yes," said Alex, "he did. I'm sorry Leonard. But, more importantly, how are you?"

"It hurts," said Leonard, "I'm really feeling depressed about it. Don't want to leave the house, don't want to work, don't want to eat, just don't care."

"If you need to talk," said Alex, "or if there's anything I can do, let me know."

"Thanks," said Leonard, "but, really there isn't. This is something I'm going to have to deal with." He paused, looking at her, "and I'm not sure taking to you is a good idea for me, right now."

"Just to be clear," said Alex, "I'm not hitting on you, I'm just concerned for you. Talking to someone about it may be helpful, so if you need to talk, you can talk to me. I promise listening is all I'll do."

Leonard shrugged, "Thanks, Alex, I do appreciate it, but I think I'll work on it, on my own. Maybe, talk to one of my other friends, not Sheldon."

Alex nodded, "OK, I'll see you around Leonard." She turned and walked off. Leonard went back to looking at the table.

 **CalTech Laser Lab 1:00 PM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Leonard was sitting in his office, staring at the wall. He was despondent over what had happened over the last week, and was deep in his thoughts. Suddenly, his phone rang, but it took several rings, before the sound penetrated and he picked it up.

"Dr Hofstadter," he said, sounding distressed.

"Leonard, this is Bernadette."

"Yes?"

"Howard told me you weren't doing so well, this morning," said Bernadette kindly. "I just wanted to check in on you and see if there's anything I can do to help."

"No, nothing," said Leonard, "It's really got me down, and I just really don't care about anything."

Bernadette was becoming more concerned, "If you need to talk, just let me know."

"Everyone is offering to talk to me," said Leonard bitterly. "What's to talk about? She broke up with me, looks like she's dating her costar, so what is there to talk about?"

"Leonard," said Bernadette softly, "were just trying to help you through this. I know you're going to have to work through all these things. But, I'd rather have you talk to me, or anyone, rather than do something stupid."

"Bernadette, this has me really down, but I'm not thinking of suicide. I'm still a couple of steps above that."

That worried Bernadette, but she continued, "I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about running to New York, or something similar."

Leonard ignored her comment, continuing on with his thoughts, "It was tough coming to work and seeing her apartment and the Cheesecake Factory. That's what's really killing me, knowing I have to see those, and think of her everyday."

"Well, that's what I mean," said Bernadette. "If it gets to be too much, talk to me or someone else, before you do something stupid."

"Maybe you're right," said Leonard absently. "I guess I'm talking stupidly." He sighed, "Ignore me Bernadette, I'm just rambling. And, thanks for the offer, I'll let you know."

"OK," said Bernadette, "just remember it, all right?"

"I better get back to work," said Leonard. "Take care Bernadette, I'll talk to you later, goodbye."

"Goodbye, Leonard," said Bernadette, "you take care yourself."

They both disconnected, and Leonard went back to staring at the wall.

 **Apt 314 4:30 PM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Just after talking to Penny, Jeanie had made her promise to talk to her, if she decided to quit and leave, Jeanie left. She had an extended lunch scheduled with several of her management team. She had offered to bring Penny, but Penny demurred, saying she had a call to make.

After Jeanie left, Penny called to make an appointment with a doctor, there was an opening in a couple of days. She then spent time thinking about what Jeanie had said about going back, or talking to Leonard. She finally decided that she might try to write a letter, telling him to ignore what she had said in her first letter, and then she would explain what had happened and why she didn't call or answer him.

She was now looking over what she had written…

 ** _Dear Leonard,_**

 ** _You have to know how hard it was for me to send you the last letter. I have decided to try to explain things to you now. I won't sugarcoat it, what I did was terrible, and when I tell you it will hurt you very badly._**

 ** _I had been struggling when I did scenes with Brent. You know how creepy I felt with him, and I didn't feel right, when I did a scene with him. He had been getting less creepy, even encouraging me a little bit, in the weeks prior to a taping, several weeks ago._**

 ** _Jim and Kelli, and even several other people, suggested I work with him so I felt more comfortable, when we did the scenes. After a taping about a month ago, we had seen in the script, that next week had quite a few scenes with Brent and I. He asked me to his apartment, after the taping, to work on those scenes. Since he had been getting better and less creepy, I agreed._**

 ** _I had too much to drink, without intending to, and I ended up drunk and in bed with Brent. Unlike with Raj, we did have sex. When I woke up the next morning I ran from his apartment, and spent a lot of time over the next two days crying and upset with myself. I felt exactly like I did after waking up with Raj, nothing more than a skank._**

 ** _I couldn't talk to you, as I knew I would give myself away, without being able to explain it clearly or correctly. I am so unworthy of you, and you don't deserve this. I didn't think I could tell you because I knew this would hurt you so terribly._**

 ** _I couldn't decide which would hurt you worse, telling you what happened, or just not talking to you. So I did nothing, until I figured out both of them would hurt you, and the best thing I could do, would be to write that letter, breaking up with you._** ** _Hurting you once, instead of continuing to hurt you, was the better option and would allow you to find someone who would treat you better than I do._**

 ** _Now, however, Jeanie has been insistent that it might be better to tell you, and ask for your forgiveness, if you even can forgive me. This letter is my way of telling you what happened._**

 ** _So now you know, I slept with Brent. It only happened once, and I will never repeat it. Can you ever forgive me for breaking your trust? Please, please say you will forgive me. I am willing to do anything to get your forgiveness, and for you to allow me to try to earn your trust again…_**

Penny had stopped. She didn't like it. It was going to hurt Leonard even more, and she didn't even know if it would help. _It sounds so trite, I did wrong again, and if you just forgive me, I'll never do it again, even though I've done the same damn thing over and over. What was it Dr Phil said? Past behavior predicts future behavior._

 _This is something I've done my whole life, why would I change now? Face it, Penny, you don't deserve someone like Leonard. You've screwed your life up before, with the cheating jerks you dated. Now, you screwed it up, because you're just a cheating jerk like they were. Remember how it felt, when they cheated on you? And now you're doing it to Leonard, you stupid bitch. You know you're going to do it again, so why wait to hurt him again. Just let him go find someone else._

Penny started sobbing looking at the screen, knowing it was better for both of them to just let him go now. She highlighted the whole letter, and then hit delete. She shut off her computer, ran to her room and laid on her bed sobbing.


	62. Chapter 61

**A/N This is a rather long chapter (but not the longest), but I had to get some things in here, for reasons you'll see at the end. You also get some Howard, here, something that ties in with the original story (remember that? :) ). Actually, there will be a lot of tie ins with the original story coming up. Anyway, here ya go.**

 **Chapter 61**

 **Apt 314 8:00 PM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Jeanie wasn't letting Penny out of her sight. She had gotten back from her appointments to find Penny still crying when she answered the door. She made Penny clean up, and then took her out for dinner. Penny didn't want to cry in public, which was Jeanie's intention for taking her out.

After getting back to Jeanie's, from dinner, Jeanie had tried to talk to Penny about why she had broken up with Leonard, but Penny didn't want to talk about it, and just started crying. Jeanie had told her not to worry about it, and asked her about working on her mechanics with Jeanie. Penny declined, and told Jeanie she wasn't even sure she wanted to continue with the show anymore.

Penny had also asked for some wine, and Jeanie steered her toward some tea. Jeanie explained she was wary about Penny drinking, as it appeared Penny had been drinking heavily. Penny reluctantly agreed, and Jeanie went out to the kitchen and brought back two glasses of tea, then asked Penny what she meant by not wanting to work on the show. Penny explained that being an actress just didn't mean anything to her right now. She was so depressed about Leonard, she didn't care about being an actress, and she thought she might just go back to Nebraska.

Jeanie objected and told Penny she would need to work anyway, she was doing so well, and besides, she had a contract, so why would she quit? Penny didn't see it that way, and gave several reasons why it would be better for her to just go back to Nebraska. Jeanie countered by refuting Penny's reasons, and giving reasons why Penny should stay. The two of them went back and forth on this for several hours, until Penny said she was tired and was going back to her apartment.

Jeanie didn't want her being alone, she was afraid Penny would start drinking, so she convinced her to stay at Jeanie's for the night. Jeanie had an extra tooth brush, and a pair of pajamas, so Jeanie gave them to Penny, and they both went off to bed.

 **Apt 4A 6:30 PM Monday Nov 26th 2012.**

Sheldon was watching Leonard. Howard had asked him to keep an eye on Leonard as both he and Bernadette were worried about him. Sheldon wasn't sure what he should do, Leonard was just sitting at his desk, looking at his computer. He hadn't eaten, and Sheldon supposed he should tell Howard that. Howard had pick something up for them, for dinner, on their way home, and Sheldon was now watching the short version of The Fellowship of the Ring, while he ate.

He would look at Leonard every so often, making sure he kept an eye on him. The movie was ending and Leonard closed his laptop, said goodnight, and started walking toward his bedroom. Sheldon watched him go and thought how much of a waste of time, watching Leonard had been, as he hadn't moved from his desk.

Sheldon did call Howard, to tell him that Leonard hadn't done anything all night.

"What did he do?" Asked Howard. "Did he eat?"

"No, he didn't eat," said Sheldon. "He just stared at his laptop all night," said Sheldon.

"What was he looking at?"

"Just his email," said Sheldon.

"All night?" said Howard. "He was just going through his email all night?"

"Not even that," said Sheldon, "he had a couple of his emails open, and just stared at them."

"Which emails?"

"I couldn't see from where I was sitting," said Sheldon.

Howard shook his head, he had an idea of which emails, and wondered how someone as brilliant as Sheldon, could be so dense. "OK, thanks, Sheldon. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Talk to him about what?"

"Don't worry about it Sheldon," said Howard. "I'll handle it, goodbye."

"All right, goodbye."

Howard was was holding his phone, thinking. Maybe he could get Leonard's mind off Penny, by asking his advice about something Howard was thinking of doing. Something he hadn't told Raj, or even Bernadette about yet. Howard nodded, _yeah,_ _that should get Leonard off of thinking about Penny, at least for a little while._ he started getting ready for bed.

 **CalTech cafeteria 12:30 PM Tuesday Nov 27th 2012.**

Leonard wasn't eating, he was just pushing his food around. It had been a rough morning for him, again, much like the previous evening, and for the same reason. Howard drove past The Cheesecake Factory and then seeing 4B as they got to their apartment, reminding Leonard of Penny. And, although Leonard drove this morning, it was just as bad. Seeing 4B, he had thought about driving an alternate way to work, hoping to avoid The Cheesecake Factory, but he realized that by taking the alternate route, he was still thinking about it, and Penny. _Will I ever be able to drive by there again?_

He heard Howard's voice, "Hey there, buddy, what's up?"

He looked up to see Howard sitting down. He appreciated Howard and Bernadette's attempts to help him, but he wasn't really in the mood for it.

"I need some advice," said Howard.

"From me?" asked Leonard.

"Yeah, you're level headed," said Howard. "Well, most of the time, but not right now what with Pe…"

"What do you want Howard, I'm not in a mood to talk?"

"OK," started Howard, "I've been taking some classes, here and there, to keep up with some newer engineering stuff. I know I'm an Astronautical Engineer, but I have an idea to try and get my PhD, and move to another specialty. I'll have to have a project and write a thesis, and I'll still have to take several other courses, but I wanted to run my plan by you, for your thoughts."

Leonard interest was now piqued. He had always thought that Howard was a pretty sharp guy academically, and also thought he should get his PhD. But, he also understood why engineers didn't usually get them. He looked at Howard for a few seconds then asked, "OK, what do you have in mind?"

Howard was a bit nervous, he had been thinking of this for several years, but now it was time to put up, or shut up. "Here's what I'm thinking. I did the space toilet for the Space Station, and also several other smaller things. In every case, I had to link whatever piece of equipment to the on board computer, so the equipment could be controlled and monitored. Things like the temperature, air pressure, electricity, movement of the solar panels, all of that."

"What would that have to do with your project?" Asked Leonard. "Are you planning on something for the station?"

"No," said Howard, "I was thinking of using that experience to do something with applied engineering, which will also let me use my programming skills."

"Like what?"

"My project would be creating a partially automated home, where the main computer would monitor things like temperature, hot water, open and close windows and lock doors, and be able to turn lights and entertainment systmes off and on and maybe a few other things, as I think of them."

"What would you use as an interface?"

"Well, a regular computer interface, of course, to update programs or add something else to the automation. In general, for the user, my plan is to use voice control." said Howard. "Something like what Apple's working on, with SIRI."

"Of course, I would have to do a lot of research on that, and then program it, on my own. I'll also have to figure out what kind of servos and linkages to use on windows and such. What do you think?"

Leonard put his chin in his hand and thought about it. While the space toilet had been somewhat of a disaster, he knew the rest of what Howard had done for the space station was working just fine, and lot of what he did with the space station would be directly transferable to this project.

"Where would you go?" asked Leonard, "or would you stay here?"

"I'd stay here," said Howard, "I've already done some preliminary asking around, and they are willing to waive the five year limit, from my the date of my masters, and the limit of taking no more than four years, as long as I keep working on it, and keep working on my job here. Although they did say they might move me to, applied or computer engineering, something that fits with my thesis and project."

Leonard was nodding, "What does Bernadette think about this?"

"She doesn't know," said Howard. "I wanted to have everything ready, before I tell her. I think she'll be happy. She's ribbed me a couple of time about not having a PhD, and when I complain about it, she tells me to go get one, so that's what I'm going to do."

Leonard thought a bit more, then nodded his head again, "It sounds like you have a good plan, and a good project. I would say go for it. I think you would already have one, if you were in any other field."

Howard smiled, "Thanks Leonard, it makes me feel good to know you think I can do this."

"What's Raj think?"

"I haven't told him, either," said Howard.

"Why not?"

"Why would I tell him," said Howard, "if I haven't told Bernadette?"

Leonard nodded, "Well, you're closer to Raj…"

"Ha ha ha, hilarious," said Howard in a mocking tone.

Leonard looked serious and said, "Well, there's one thing I would make sure you do then."

"What?"

"Just make sure you tell Bernadette," said Leonard, "or she'll rip your head off."

"Oh, I know that," said Howard. "Believe me, I know that."

A small smile formed on Leonard's lips, the first one in three days, before disappearing quickly.

 **Apt 314 8:30 PM Tuesday Nov 27th 2012.**

Jeanie sighed as she looked down on Penny. She was laying on the couch, drunk again. She was also crying, and repeating variations of "I'm sorry, Leonard, I'm so sorry Leonard," over and over again.

Jeanie had been gone since the early afternoon, running several errands and a dinner meet up with her publicist. After their discussion the previous night, Penny seemed to be pretty level, emotionally, when she left, and Jeanie did not expect to find her in this condition, when she got back. Jeanie helped Penny into her bedroom, and got her ready for bed, the led her to her bed. She put a glass of water and some aspirin on her nightstand. She walked out to the kitchen and looked back at the bedroom. Her heart went out to Penny, and Jeanie decided she was staying there tonight.

She had thought about calling Leonard. Penny seemed to be in really bad shape, and she wondered if Leonard was aware of the toll the breakup was taking on Penny. In the end, she decided that Penny didn't want to talk to Leonard, so it wasn't for Jeanie to decide to contact him. She went to her apartment, grabbed her toothbrush, and a pair of Pajamas, then came back down to Penny's apartment. When she returned, she found a pillow and blanket and made herself comfortable on the couch. Before drifting off, she thought about find something to do, on the next day, to help Penny.

 **Apt 4A 6:30 PM Tuesday Nov 27th 2012.**

Leonard was eating some leftover Thai food. He really hadn't had an interest in eating lately, but he was actually hungry for a change, so he reheated the container and started eating, thinking about his afternoon.

He had a brief respite to his despair, due to the conversation with Howard, but by the time he got back to his office, he just didn't care about anything. He struggled all afternoon to work on anything, because he just kept thinking about Penny. He finally called Amy, asking her to bring Sheldon home, and he left early. He again thought about changing his route home, but as he did that, he was thinking about The Cheesecake Factory, and Penny. So he continued along the same, usual route.

He remembered,, after getting to the fourth floor, his eyes filling with tears after he reflexively looked toward 4B, and how he quickly turned and unlocked his door, making his way to his bedroom, where he laid down and was soon asleep.

Now he was awake, and not sure what to do. As he tried to figure out what to do, he realized he had no interest in doing anything, so after eating, he simply turned on the TV, not really watching. After Amy and Sheldon came home, they ate, and Amy tried to cheer Leonard up, but nothing seemed to be working. He finally told Amy that while he appreciated it, he was just going to go to his room. Amy watched him go, just shaking her head, with a sad expression.

 **Apt 314 9:30 PM Wednesday Nov 28th 2012.**

Jeanie was again getting Penny's couch ready, as her bed for the night. She had gone to the doctor with Penny in the morning. While Penny knew she wasn't pregnant, she was relieved that the tests they had results for indicated she didn't have those particular diseases. It was going to take, several more weeks for the results for the rest, and up to six months, before she would be sure about the HIV test, so she would have to wait.

Once they got home, Jeanie had tried to get her to open up, throughout the day, until Penny became angry. Penny had quickly apologized for snapping at Jeanie, saying she had told Jeanie everything she felt comfortable saying right now. After that, Penny had spent most of the day quietly watching TV, and occasionally sobbing. After Penny's blowup, Jeanie was content to be there for her, if she decided to talk. Jeanie had made lunch and dinner for the both of them, and as she was still worried about Penny drinking, she decided to sleep on Penny's couch again.

She was desperately trying to come up with something for the next day, when she remembered she had a meeting with her agent. A plan began to form, and she made a few phone calls. By the time she had finished with the phone calls, she felt she had a good plan to keep Penny busy the next day. She shut off the light, laid her head down, and waited to get to sleep.

 **Apt 4A 7:30 PM Wednesday Nov 28th 2012.**

Leonard was in his bedroom, going there as soon as he got home, laying on his bed, thinking. It had been a shock to him this morning, as he drove to work. The City of Pasadena was putting up Christmas decorations on the light polls along Colorado Boulevard. As he saw them going up, he thought about Christmas, how he really didn't celebrate it as a kid, and how it took Penny to make it a holiday for him. The Christmas decorations had made him think of Penny, and the good times she had made for him during Christmases they had spent together. His mood went even further down, and brought tears to his eyes.

He was struggling to do anything through the morning, and while he went to the cafeteria, he only got a cup of coffee. Around one PM, he had received an email from Geoff, letting him know they were behind again, and he wouldn't be able to send the latest file for a couple of days. _I guess they are really behind,_ thought Leonard, _it was nine PM, at Oxford, and he's still at work. Not that it matters, I'm not doing much of anything. I'll send him a note back tomorrow, telling him not to worry about it._

He didn't do much of anything for the afternoon, either, just basically staring at his computer screen. He got a couple of calls from his grad students, who had some questions, but he put them off, telling them he wouldn't be able to talk to them until next week. This, of course, made him feel guilty for not helping them, which just dragged him down more. Sheldon came and got him just after five PM. He packed his office up and they left around 5:15. Leonard knew they were doing Christmas decoration on Colorado, so he intentionally took California, to get to the apartment, without seeing the decorations. He was aware that he could also avoid The Cheesecake Factory, by taking that route.

They were just getting to the downtown area, when Leonard noticed the light poles along California were now, also, decorated with Christmas decorations. As soon as he noticed them, the feeling he had this morning had kicked in again. He struggled with his feelings, the rest of the way home, trying to keep them from Sheldon. He, of course, couldn't stop himself from looking at 4B, whenthey arrived home. It was at this point that he told Sheldon to call Amy to bring dinner, as he wasn't going anywhere, then went to his room.

Leonard had been thinking an idea for a couple of hours, weighing different things, in his mind. He knew it was going to be difficult to see various things in Pasadena, which reminded him of Penny, and had come to a decision, although he was still thinking about the details. He heard a single soft knock on his door. He looked up and said, "Come in, Amy."

Amy entered and asked, "How did you know it was me?"

Leonard had a half smile, "Well, you didn't knock three time and say my name, so it had to be you."

Amy nodded, "Makes sense. I brought you a plate of food, you really should eat."

"I'm not hungry," said Leonard.

"I understand that," said Amy, "but you really need to eat something."

"Put it on my night stand," said Leonard.

Amy turned to go, but before she could leave Leonard said, "Amy?"

"Yes?"

"Can you take Sheldon into work tomorrow?" Asked Leonard. "I have to go in early to call England about the data for my idea and experiment."

"Do I need to bring him home?"

"Yeah," said Leonard, "if it goes the way I expect, I'll have a lot to do tomorrow."

"Like what?"

"I'd…I really…let's just say until I talk to them, I won't know," said Leonard. "I've made a decision, about the lack of data for my hypothesis, and I'm going to go with it."

"What decision?"

Leonard ignored her question, "Can you bring him home?"

"OK, I can do it," said Amy. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Not really," said Leonard. "Good night."

"Goodnight, Leonard," she said, and left, closing the door.

 **Apt 4A 2:30 AM Thursday Nov 29th 2012.**

Sheldon came out of the bathroom, and noticed a light on in the kitchen. He walked out there and saw Leonard leaning on the island, a cup of tea in front of him.

"What are you doing up, Leonard," said Sheldon rubbing his eyes.

"I've been thinking about something and couldn't get to sleep," said Leonard. "So, I came out here for some tea."

"Thinking about what?"

"Things," said Leonard. He was silent for a few seconds then said, "The breakup just hurts so bad, Sheldon. I don't know what to do."

Sheldon noticed a far off look in Leonard's eyes, and said, "You're not done with her, are you?"

"Actually," said Leonard sadly, "I think I am."

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 6:30 AM Thursday Nov 29th 2012.**

Leonard was tired. He had struggled with sleep all night, and was now drinking his fourth cup of coffee. He dialed Geoff's number and waited. A minute later, and after a lot of tones and beeps, he heard Geoff's voice, "Hello."

"Hi Geoff, it's Leonard"

"Hi Leonard," said Geoff, "I take it you got my email?"

"Yes," said Leonard, "I wanted to ask you about that."

"It's still the same," said Geoff. "We're missing a lecturer, and a lecturer who is an experimentalist. Our current staff is trying to cover all the lectures, which means we have to take away from experimenting, which is why we don't have the data to send you, I'm sorry."

"No, no, I understand that," said Leonard. "But, I think I have a way to help you get around those problems."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Geoff," said Leonard. "What do you think about me applying for your lecturer/experimentalist position?"

 **End of Part III**


	63. Chapter 62

**A/N Welcome to Chapter 62. It is also Part 4, and the final part, of this fic. The first part was 18 Chapters, the second 30, the third was 14 and this part will be around 20 or so. The parts were based on events in the story (for example, before Penny left Pasadena is Part 1. If you can't figure out what the other events are, feel free to PM me), so that is the reason for the differences, in the number of chapters. I actually had included some of the stories Jeanie was telling Penny, based on my own theatre experiences, but I had to cut them, the chapter ran too long (again, if you must know, PM me).**

 **Part IV**

 **Chapter 62**

 **Apt 314 9:30 AM Thursday Nov 29th 2012.**

Jeanie was waiting at Penny's kitchen table, sipping on coffee and waiting for Penny to get ready. She had gotten up before Penny, went to her own apartment to get some clothes, and then came back to Penny's apartment. Jeanie woke up Penny and told her to go get a cup of coffee, while she got a shower and got ready. Afterward, when she told Penny it was her turn to get ready, Penny tried to tell Jeanie she really didn't want to go out, but Jeanie was insistent, telling Penny she didn't have a choice, and to go get a shower.

Penny asked what they were going to do, and Jeanie told her not to worry about it, she had it all planned out. She didn't want to put up with any more delay by Penny, so she raised her voice, "Don't argue with me, just go get your damn shower, now."

"OK, OK," said Penny, "you don't have to yell." Penny turned and started walking to get her shower.

 **Caltech Laser Lab, 6:45 AM Thursday Nov 29th 2012.**

"You want to do what?" asked Geoff.

"I want to apply for the job," said Leonard. "I have experience in both, although I haven't lectured in a while. On the other hand, I am working with grad students, and you know my work."

"Yes, I do, and it's exceptional," said Geoff. "Your lack of recent lecture experience isn't a problem, you'd be surprised to find how easy it all comes back to you. We've had the job advertised since the beginning of the semester, with no applicants, so we don't have to worry about the UK citizen requirement. But, are you sure you want to leave sunny California for comparatively dreary, damp England?"

"Yes, I'm sure," said Leonard. "Some things have changed here, and I've come to the conclusion its better for me to leave, than to try and stay here."

"Does it have anything to do with your employment at CalTech?" asked Geoff. "That could be a bit of a problem, if that is the case."

"No, nothing to do with my job," said Leonard, "it has to do strictly with some things in my personal life. So, what do you think?"

"I think it's a wonderful idea, Leonard," said Geoff. "One of the things we've had a problem with, due to our laws, is the mix of UK and foreign instructors and experimentalists. You not only would be a great fit work-wise, you will bring in some different ideas, thoughts, procedures, etc. And we shouldn't have a problem, since no one has applied to fill it."

"Well, can you do me a favor of broaching the subject to whomever you need to talk to, to get this moving along?"

"Yes, yes," said Geoff thoughtfully, "we would want to move quickly on this. That way, we could have you over here for the next semester. But, it could be a bit complicated."

"What do you mean, complicated?"

"Well, we are organized a bit differently than the American universities. Everyone in the department takes the same classes, but each college has its own culture, its own fellows, traditions, etc, which appeals to a specific type of individual. For example, I'm in University College, but my department head, who is my boss and would be yours, is at Merton College, and the open position is at Trinity College. Now, my boss, who knows of your work, would have to talk to the head of Trinity college, and then talk to the chancellor of Oxford."

"I thought I was going to be working for Oxford University."

"You still would be," said Geoff with a chuckle. "For example, with Physics, you would give your lectures and labs, to all students, but you would also have to do what are called, tutorials, for just your college. What makes this so good, is from what I know of you, and what I know of the faculty at Trinity, you would be a great fit there. So, if you wish me to, I'll talk to my boss, and both of us can contact the head of Trinity College, and then the Chancellor, and if everything works out, you may be offered the job by next Monday."

"Thank you Geoff," said Leonard, "I do appreciate it. When does your next semester start?"

"That would be mid-January," said Geoff, "but you would need to be here earlier than that, probably before the end of the year."

Leonard thought for a bit, "That sounds fine, Geoff. Thank you and get back to me after you talk to who ever you need to talk to about this."

"I will, it will be great having you here, Leonard. I'll talk to you later, goodbye."

"Goodbye, Geoff," Leonard hung up and looked at the phone, saying softly, and sadly, "I can't stay here any longer, it is better for me to leave."

 **Apt 601, 9:30 PM Thursday Nov 29th 2012.**

Jeanie and Penny were sitting in Jeanie's living room. They had found a "Friends" marathon, and were watching TV, while they sipped on their tea. Jeanie, worried about Penny's drinking lately, had pushed for both of them to drink tea. At the start of the day, they both went to their agents, then they had gone to the Second Stage Theatre, an off-Broadway theatre where one of Jeanie's friends was in rehearsal for new show.

Penny was fascinated by the rehearsal, and couldn't help notice how the rehearsal for the theatre show was very similar to their rehearsal for their show. She also understood that a performance would almost be like them taping a show, without the cameras, and other sets. Penny was impressed when she realized that the people here wouldn't be able to restart if they flubbed a line, or messed up their blocking. They would have to just keep going, and try to fix it. On their way home, Penny ask Jeanie about her time in live theatre and Jeanie confirmed Penny's thoughts, about performances. She also had Penny laughing at some of the stories about various actors blowing their lines, and trying to fix it, during a live performance.

After the theatre, they had gone out for dinner, and continued their talk, while eating and after getting back to Jeanie's apartment. Penny thanked Jeanie for the day, telling her it was her first stress free day since Thanksgiving. But, now, Penny was ready to go back to her apartment, and Jeanie was concerned about her being alone. Penny assured her she would be all right then thanked Jeanie, again, for such a great day. She appreciated being able to take her mind off of her problems and gave Jeanie a hug, before leaving.

After entering her apartment, she turned on the TV, and went to the kitchen, looking for something to drink. Looking in her fridge, she saw several bottles of wine. She hesitated at that, then grabbed one of the bottles of water. Taking it to her couch, she settled in to watch some TV. She was happy with the water for now. Because of her good day, her sadness over the breakup was buried far enough inside, that she didn't feel the need to drink tonight. She flipped through the channels, to find and watch the _Friends_ marathon.

 **Wolowitz Home, 10:00 PM Thursday Nov 29th 2012.**

Howard was nervous. He had talked to Leonard to get some feedback about his plan to get his PhD, and Leonard was enthusiastic for his friend to get his it. But now, he had to tell Bernadette what he planned to do, which is why he was nervous. They had just finished watching TV and were now preparing for bed. Howard had hurried through he routine and was already in bed, waiting for Bernadette. She finally finished and as she was getting into bed, he hesitantly started with, "Bernie, I've got something to tell you."

"What's it about?"

"Well, it's about our future, mine in particular."

Bernadette, looked at him sideways, and said sarcastically, "You want to move back into your mom's house."

"No, that's not it," said Howard. "You know those classes I've been taking, the ones I needed to help me keep up with the some of the new ideas in Engineering?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Well," said Howard slowly, "that wasn't the only reason I was talking those classes."

"The instructor had some new toy you wanted to look at?"

Howard, grimaced, "No, they were classes that were required for a PhD."

"Buy, why would you do that, Howard?" asked Bernadette. "You have your masters, you aren't getting your PhD…"

"Actually," said Howard with a smile, "I am planning on it. I've even got the project planned, that I'll base my thesis on."

"What?"

"Yeah," said Howard, "you and the guys give me a hard time now and then, about not having my PhD, but I figured out a project and a way to do it."

"Howie," said Bernadette with a grin. "That's great, I'm so proud of you."

Howard had a grin on his face, but he said, "I was worried you were going to think it was a waste."

"Not at all," said Bernadette. "Tell me all about it."

Howard spent the next half hour explaining everything he was going to have to do, how it would take up a lot of his time, and he wouldn't be home very much. And, even when he was home, he would be working on his classes, or project, or research for his thesis, that's why he was worried.

Bernadette told him not to worry about it, they would find time or sneak in some time together while he was working on it, and she repeated how proud she was of him. She grinned at him, and said, "Hey, you want to celebrate this, the way we celebrated me getting my PhD and job?"

Howard looked at her with a smirk on his face, "Which way, the sex or the fight about the watch?"

"The sex you idiot," said Bernadette, in a sharp tone.

Howard couldn't hold it in any longer and he just laughed. Bernadette slapped his arm lightly a couple of times, before he pulled her in to kiss her, and shorty after, started working on her bra clasp.

 **Office of Caltech Physics Head, 9:30 AM Friday Nov 30th 2012.**

Dr Eric Gablehauser was late arriving to work, and wasn't in a good mood. He had to have an emergency re-installation of a crown done this morning and his mouth was sore. As he passed his secretary with a frown, she said, "Dr Gablehauser, President Siebert wants you to call him as soon as you get in."

He nodded as he walked by, entered his office, took off his coat, and started the coffee machine. He then unpacked his briefcase and looked through the envelopes in his basket, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. When it was ready, he poured a cup and sat down at his desk. He turned his computer on, then dialed President Siebert's private number.

He heard President Siebert say, "Hello," and answered with, "President Siebert, Gablehauser here, you wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes, Eric, I need to see you in my office in 10 minutes, I received a request today, and I want to talk to you about it."

"What is it?"

"Just get up here, we need to talk, goodbye."

 _What the hell could this be about?_ Thought Eric as he rose to start walking to President Siebert's office.

 **Apartment 314 1:00 PM Friday Nov 30th 2012.**

There was a knock on Penny's door. Penny rose, walked to the door and looked out the peephole. Seeing Jeanie, she opened the door and let her in. Jeanie had a big smile on her face, as she walked in.

They both sat on the couch, with Jeanie continuing to smile, until Penny said, "What?"

Jeanie said, "I just got off the phone with Kelli, she'd been trying to call you but you weren't answering."

Penny looked at her phone and noticed all the calls. She checked and found she had the ringer turned all the way down, so she turned it up, and looked back at Jeanie and said, "What did she want?"

Jeanie, continuing to smile said, "Well, Kelli got some information today, but since she couldn't get in touch with you, she called me, so I get to tell you. _People Magazine_ called her today, they wanted a picture and a bio, of you."

"Me, what for?"

"In their next issue," said Jeanie, "they are going to name you one of the most intriguing people for 2012."

"What?"

Jeanie continued, with a smirk, "Yes, it seems that they find your story, about being a waitress getting selected for a role on TV, and now really getting noticed, interesting somehow."

Penny sounding indifferent, said, "You said Kelli wanted to talk to me?"

"Penny, what's wrong?" asked Jeanie. "This is _People Magazine_ , this is big."

Penny shrugged, "I know, but I told you, I'm feeling like I don't want to be an actress and thinking about going back to Nebraska, so …"

"Penny," said Jeanie sharply, "are you sure you don't want to be an actress?"

"Well, no," said Penny, "but, I'm thinking about it, so…"

"No buts," said Jeanie, "if you're not sure, you owe it, at least to Jim and Kelli, to do something to help the show."

Penny wasn't sure, and Jeanie could see it on her face.

"Look," said Jeanie, "if you're not sure, you should just do it. If it turns out you want to continue, it'll help. If you decide you don't, then doing this doesn't matter to you but it will help Jim and Kelli."

Penny, looking uneasy, but feeling a bit guilty about it nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Ok, then call her," said Jeanie. "because they want you to go down to the studio, so they can get some shots of you. They'll also probably ask you a few questions about yourself, so you can answer them. But you need to call Kelli."

Penny sighed, pulled out her phone, and dialed Kelli's number.

 **Office of Caltech President, 3:30 PM Friday Nov 30th 2012.**

Leonard was waiting in the anteroom, of President Siebert's office, holding onto a folder. Siebert's secretary had called him and told him President Siebert wanted to talk to him at 3:30. Leonard had tried to beg off, saying he had another meeting to go to, but the secretary told him to be there at 3:30, and to cancel the other meeting, and if the other party had a problem to have them call Siebert.

The secretary looked at Leonard and said, "You can go in now, they're ready."

 _They're? I guess he called Gablehauser._ Leonard rose and went to the door and entered the office. Along with President Siebert, was Dr Gablehauser, both of them seated at the conference table. They indicated where Leonard could sit and after a few brief exchanges of hellos, Leonard sat down.

He had suspected his recent inquiry into the position at Oxford is what brought this on. Of course the people at Oxford would call to ask about Leonard. When Siebert was adamant about talking with him, Leonard expected it would be about his leaving, which is why he had the folder. He hadn't expected Eric to be there, but it really didn't change things, and might actually help.

"Dr Hofstadter," started President Siebert, "I have been informed you are asking about an open position at Oxford."

"I am," said Leonard, "they seem to be short a lecturer/experimentalist there, and I thought I might be a good fit."

"Without talking to us?"

"I haven't told them I would take the position," said Leonard. "I was just doing an preliminary inquiry. Before I would accept, I would discuss it with Dr Gablehauser."

"What about with me?"

"Why with you sir?" asked Leonard. "These things go through my department head, not you."

"Yes, normally they would," said President Siebert. "But, you see, in this instance, your work is bringing in a lot of money to the university, which would stop, if you were to leave. So, in that case, I get involved." President Seibert smirked, "I just might not give you a good recommendation if your actions takes away the money."

 _Heheheheh, just what I thought, good thing I have this folder with Sheldon's and my work._ He smiled at both of them, making them uncomfortable, "What if I were show you a way to continue to get the money, if I left?" Leonard continued with a sarcastic tone, "Would I then get a good recomendation?"

President Siebert ignored his tone, "How would you do that?"

Leonard held up the folder, "I have here, a summary of my work, but I've hit a dead end, so the money would stop coming in shortly, anyway. However, Dr Cooper has looked over my work, and he has some ideas. While I've hit a dead end, he sees a way forward, using the data that Oxford sends. The problem is that because they are short a couple of professors, they can't keep up with sending the experimental data. That doesn't matter as I've hit a dead end. However, if I go, Dr Cooper would start getting the information he needs, and the money would continue to come in. I will let Dr Gablehauser look over our work, and he can tell you whether or not what I say is true."

Leonard handed the folder over to Dr Gablehauser, who took it and opened it up. After briefly scanning it, he said, "This is going to take a bit of digging into, on my part."

"It shouldn't be that difficult," said Leonard, "you should be able to get the gist of it, over the weekend, with a minimal amount of research." Leonard smirked, "We made it simple."

"You seem to be in a hurry," said Eric, sounding concerned, as Leonard seemed to know something. "Do you really want to leave that quickly? Is it something we've done?"

"No, sir," said Leonard. "This is a very personal thing and has nothing to do with the university. But I must leave."

"Do you want to let us know what is happening?"

"No, sir, I do not," said Leonard, "As I said, it's personal, and there is nothing either of you can do."

President Siebert leaned over the conference table, "Suppose we decide not to let you go? What are you going to do then?"

Leonard stood up and gave them an evil smile, "It really doesn't matter. The University hasn't seen fit to give me tenure, so if I decide to leave, you will have my resignation, and there's nothing you can really do. Oxford is already happy to have me." He looked at them with a smirk, "Is there anything else for me right now?"

Both Gablehauser and Siebert looked at Leonard, a shocked look on their faces, and both shook their heads.

"In that case gentleman," said Leonard, "I will leave you. Please let me know what you decide after Dr Gablehauser reads through the work." Leonard walked to the door and left the office.

 **A/N Hello there, another A/N for your perusal. Everything in here about Trinity, and Oxford are based on what I could find by researching things. For instance, one of my readers pointed out that in the UK, there are strict procedures for bringing in foreign workers. So, if Leonard is to go to England, there would have to be an opening, that couldn't be filled by a citizen of the UK. There are a couple of things that will be wrong, but it's because of the limitation of this being a prequel and trying to match this story to the other. I'll be pointing things out as I go along, probably in a note at the end, like this.**


	64. Chapter 63

**A/N Another longish chapter, but again, not the longest. We get a bit more of Leonard's view in this chapter. I do wonder how many will remember something until it's mentioned in the chapter. On another note, I mentioned the play, _Chapter 2_ , as I was cast to play Leo in it (it's only a four person cast). **

**Chapter 63**

 **Apt 314 10:00 AM Saturday December 1st 2012.**

Penny was sipping her coffee, looking at some YouTube videos. Various people were doing stupid things, and Penny was smiling, when she heard her doorbell.

Penny got up and looked through the peephole. Seeing it was Jeanie, she opened the door and let her in. They walked to the dining table, and Penny asked if Jeanie would like a cup of coffee. Jeanie said yes, and Penny, with a smirk, told her that she knew where everything was. Jeanie laughed and went and got her coffee, then sat down at the table, looking at Penny.

"What?" said Penny.

"I'm wondering if I should leave you alone?"

"What do you mean?" asked Penny.

"I have an audition today, and possibly a chemistry read tomorrow," said Jeanie.

"For what?"

"I may be in a Broadway show in May," said Jeanie. "Because of my new found fame on our show, I've been asked to audition. The show will run from May to the end of July, just before we have to return."

"That's fantastic," said Penny excitedly, "What's the name of the show?"

"They're doing a revival of _Chapter 2,_ " said Jeanie, "and they want me to play Jennie."

Penny, who was not familiar with the play, asked, "Is it the lead?"

"One of the female leads, yes. I'm going to be gone most of today, and most of tomorrow," said Jeanie. "Are you going to be OK, by yourself?"

"Of course," said Penny, "I had a bad couple of days, but I'm starting to feel better. You go audition and get that part. Don't worry about me."

Jeanie nodded, but wasn't totally convinced. However, she really didn't have anything to go on, and Penny had done well the last couple of days, seemed to be on an even keel, so there wasn't any reason to doubt her. Jeanie rose and said, "If you say so, but I'm stopping by tonight to check on you." Jeanie started walking toward the door.

"Check away," said Penny, "but, you better do good at the audition. Break a leg."

Turning, Jeanie smiled and said, "Thanks," and then left.

 **Apt 4A 1:00 PM Saturday December 1st 2012.**

Leonard had spent most of his morning sipping coffee and thinking about leaving, _I'm probably overthinkng everything_.

He was feeling down, as he would think of Penny, and feel bad, occasionally tearing up. To get his mind off of that, he would think about going to Oxford this month, and when he remembered the reason for that, his mood would turn dark again.

He was also feeling down about leaving his friends and Cal Tech. He'd known Howard and Raj almost as long as he'd been at the University, and he'd been there since getting his doctorate. Then there was Sheldon. This weighed the heaviest on Leonard, because although he could be a pain in the ass, Sheldon was his best friend and Leonard was sure he was gong to miss him. All this also contributed to his poor mood.

Along with all this, he was also trying to decide which of his collectables to give to his three friends, which ones to sell, and which ones to keep. But again, he would think of why he was selling them, and it would derail his thought process. He finally decided to sell almost all of them, and he cold think of several reasons why this was the best thing. The main reason was he simply he didn't know if he would have the room. He wasn't sure where he would be living, and had heard that apartments, in England, could be smaller than in the US.

There also could be problems if one of his friends got something another one wanted. If he sold all of his things, his friends would have the option of buying them, and it would be up to each of them to determine which ones, they wanted to buy and how much they were willing to pay for it. There were some specific things he didn't plan on selling, but did plan to give to each of them. Those things had meant something personal to Leonard, or personal to each of them.

Where he was going to sell them was another question. He felt he owed it to Stuart to try and sell them, after all Stuart was a friend. And, if Stuart couldn't afford to buy all of them, he could take some of them to Capital Comics, although Leonard didn't really like the guy that owned it, he thought him sleazy. He would also be able to swear Stuart to secrecy, until he was ready to tell everyone, which brought him to why he was selling, and again became dejected. With an effort, he managed to wrest his thoughts to how he could also use Capital Comics as a check, on the prices Stuart was willing to give him. He knew Stuart probably couldn't give him the prices he could get from Capital Comics, and he might not be able to buy everything, but he decided he really didn't care. He would allow Stuart to buy everything he could, and let him sell everything else, as buyers became available. He could then send the money to Leonard.

He still had some time to make these decisions, as it would be at least several weeks, even if he got the job. But, he would start listing, and organizing all of his things. That way, it would be easier, when the time came to pack them up. The reason for packing them up invaded his thoughts, causing him to break the pencil in his hand.

 **Apt 314 10:00 AM Sunday December 2nd 2012.**

Jeanie knocked on Penny's door, she wanted to check on her before leaving for her chemistry read, with her proposed co-star. Penny answered the door and invited Jeanie in. Jeanie followed Penny to the table.

"How you doing?" Jeanie asked.

"I'm OK," said Penny, "you want some coffee?"

"No thanks," said Jeanie, "I've got a cup. Just stopping by, to see how you were doing."

"I'll be fine," said Penny.

"You sure?"

"Yep," said Penny, "you were here last night, and there wasn't a problem, was there?"

"No, there wasn't," admitted Jeanie, "you were fine." However, this morning, Jeanie wasn't so sure, as Penny seemed a bit snippy this morning, but it could be because it was early, for Penny.

"OK, well, try to have a good day," said Jeanie.

"Yeah, I'll try."

Jeanie looked at Penny, nodded, then left.

Penny watched her leave, then her expression changed and she said despondently, "Oh, boy, the big fucking star is all alone again, Happy fucking birthday, Penny."

 **Apt 314 3:00 PM Sunday December 2nd 2012.**

Leonard was sitting in his chair, at his desk, but his computer wasn't even on. He was staring at the birthday card, sitting next to the computer. He had gotten it for Penny, but he had been just staring at the card, off and on, since he got up that morning.

He was thinking about leaving, about Penny, about trying to figure out a way to tell everyone and finally, he couldn't take it any longer. He grabbed the card and ripped it in two, and then into fourths, stood up and then flung the pieces to the ground.

He walked to the door, took his keys out of the bowl, and left the apartment. Ten minutes later he got out of his car, walked into the store and bought a pint of whiskey, then headed back to the apartment.

 **Apt 601 8:00 PM Sunday December 2nd 2012.**

Jeanie unlocked her door, and walked into her apartment. She laid her paperwork on her table and went to the fridge, to get a bottle of water, before going down to check on Penny. She had just opened the bottle when her landline phone rang.

Puzzled, she picked it up and said, "Hello".

"Hi Jeanie, hows wash, your day?" She heard Penny say.

"Why didn't you call my cell?"

"I did," said Penny, "I think it was shix or sheven times."

Jeanie looked at her cell phone and there were no calls from Penny, "Are you drunk?"

"Of courshe," said Penny, "ishn't that what you doooo on your birtshday?"

"It's your birthday?" ask Jeanie, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I jusht did," said Penny.

"I mean this morning," said Jeanie.

"Well, you were going to be gone," said Penny. "I didn't want to make you miss your…your…your…where did you go?"

"I'll be right down," said Jeanie.

"Down where?" said Penny.

"To your apartment."

"Ohhhhh, OK," said Penny.

Jeanie hung up, went and got some pajamas, her tooth brush, and a couple of other toiletries, and started down to Penny's, planning on staying with her again tonight.

 **Apt 4A 9:00 PM Sunday December 2nd 2012.**

Leonard was sitting in his chair, looking at the empty bottle, sitting on the coffee table. He knew he was drunk, something he really didn't do very often. The last time, he remembered, was also when Penny had broken up with him. _I must be in a rut, Penny breaks up with me, I get drunk._

He attempted to get up from his chair, but fell sideways, onto the couch, and into Sheldon's spot, just as Sheldon and Amy came through the door. Upon seeing him, Sheldon said, "You're in my spot Leonard."

"I know Ssshhheldon," said Leonard, "I tried to get up, but I fell down. Of courshe, I've dranked a bottle of whishekey."

"Leonard, you're drunk." Said Sheldon.'

"Very, obshervant, Sheldon."

Amy had been looking at the ripped up card on the floor, but quickly walked over and sat down beside Leonard. "Why are you drunk Leonard?"

"Duh, why do you think, Amy? Sheesh."

Amy ignored the sarcasm and said, "Why, Leonard?"

"To dull the pain," answered Leonard.

"What pain?"

"Today ish, Penny'sh birthday," said Leonard, tears forming in his eyes, "but, she broke up with me."

"Is that all?"

"No," said Leonard, "I had a card," he pointed toward the floor, "but I didn't shend, it, I ripped it up."

"What does that have to do with you sitting in my spot?" said Sheldon.

"Sheldon," snap Amy.

"Well, I washn't in your shpot, but when I tried to get up from my chair, I fell down." Leonard giggled, "I faw down go boom."

Amy looked at Leonard with pity, "Come on Sheldon, help me get him to his room."

"Amy, I'm not built to carry something like Leonard."

"Sheldon," said Amy, "you helped Leonard carry me when I was drunk, I would think you would help your roommate, when he needs help."

Sheldon didn't say anything, he just moved to the opposite side Amy was on, and the both of them managed to get Leonard to his bed.

"Goodnight Leonard," said Amy.

"Goodnight Amy, thank you," said Leonard. "And thank you too, Giraf-fay."

Sheldon looked puzzled, "What?"

"I shaid thank you too, Giraf-fay."

"What are you talking about Leonard?"

"Penny called you a giraf-fay" said Leonard, "because she shaid, you looked like a kerrafe, no, a jerry, no, wait, what is that animal that has a long neck?"

"A giraffe," said Amy.

"That's it," said Leonard, pointing at her.

"Come on Leonard," said Amy, setting him down on his bed and trying to get him to lay down, "it's time to get to bed."

"OK," said Leonard, falling over, his head landing on the pillow.

Sheldon left, while Amy put his feet on the bed and pulled the sheet over him, then she stood there looking down at Leonard. Amy felt bad for him, but there wasn't anything she could do right now, so she turned to leave.

"Amy," she heard Leonard say.

"Yes, Leonard?"

"I miss her," said Leonard, "what am I going to do?"

"I don't know," said Amy sadly, "I miss her too."

Leonard didn't say anything else, and as Amy left, she could hear Leonard softly sobbing, she shook her head, and closed his door.

 **Apt 314 9:00 AM Monday December 3nd 2012.**

Penny heard a clinking, and opened her eyes. She sat up slowly, not knowing how bad the hangover was going to be. Not feeling too bad, she remembered that Jeanie had made her drink a glass of water and take two aspirin before going to bed.

Penny made her way to the bathroom, then put on her robe, and walked out to the kitchen. Jeanie was there, reading some papers. She looked up when Penny came in, and Penny noticed she didn't look very happy. Penny got a cup of coffee, and sat down at the table, looking at Jeanie.

Jeanie continued to read over her papers, for a few more minutes, not saying anything to Penny. Finally, Jeanie turned over the last paper, looked up at Penny, and without any preamble, said, "Here's what we're going to do. You are going to go get a shower, get dressed and then you and I are going to have a talk. I don't want to hear you don't want to talk about it. We are going to talk about it, or I am leaving. I am your friend, I am here to help you, but you have to do your part too, and right now, you aren't. Now go, I'm taking my papers back to my place. You have a half hour."

"And what if I don't want to talk to you?"

"It told you, I'm leaving," said Jeanie. "We go back to work in two days, and I am not going to work with someone who is hung over, day after day. So either we talk, or I leave and then go to Kelli and Jim, and tell them you've been drinking heavily. That's not a lie, so it's your choice."

Penny looked at Jeanie, she could see the resolve in her face, and she said angrily, "Fine," as she got up and went to the bathroom. Jeanie left, taking her papers with her. She put them on her table then headed back down to Penny's apartment. She got another cup of coffee, sat down at the table and waited.

Penny came out, after showering and getting dressed, but looking sheepish. She got a cup of coffee and then sat at the table looking at Jeanie. Finally she said, "So, what do you need to know?"

"Why did you drink yesterday?"

"It was my birthday," said Penny, "I was alone, and being alone, I thought of Leonard and how I was alone because I broke up with him. That made me feel like shit, and I started crying, which made me want to drink to forget."

"So, you're upset because you broke up with Leonard," said Jeanie. "If that makes you so upset, why break up with him?"

"Because I slept with Brent," said Penny. "He and I talked about this, before I left, and one of the things we said was if we wanted someone else, break up, but don't cheat. Well, I cheated, and to top it off, it now looks like I want someone else."

"What are you talking about?" said Jeanie.

Penny pulled out her phone and brought up the article and picture, "This came out last week, my friends in California pointed it out to me. They told me Leonard hasn't seen it, at the time, but he probably has by now. I didn't want to hurt him, but between this picture and the thing with Brent, breaking up with him was the only thing that I could think of doing, and not hurt him any worse. I'm a worthless cheat, and he doesn't deserve that."

Jeanie looked at the picture, "When was this taken?"

"The week you weren't at the taping," said Penny. "The night I slept with Brent. He was trying to say something to me, and a couple of guys got the picture, then ran out of Jake's."

Jeanie looked at her, "You need to talk to Leonard…"

"No, I don't," said Penny, "talking to him over the phone, isn't good eno…"

"No, in person," said Jeanie. "You need to go home over our Christmas hiatus, and really talk to him. Explain to him what happened and explain the picture. Tell him how bad this bothers you, how bad this makes you feel. Throw yourself on his mercy. It's got to be better for you, than what is going on now."

Penny shook her head, "No, it's not fair to him. He doesn't deserved the problems I'm making for him, like that picture. I deserve to suffer for what I did, and it's easier in the long run for him, if I don't bother him anymore. No one is going to blame him, everyone will blame me, which is the way it should be."

"How do you know that?" said Jeanie. "How do you know he's not suffering as bad as you are? You told me how hard it was for him when you broke up the first time. Why wouldn't it be as hard for him this time?"

"I am not going back or talking to him," said Penny. "All I would be doing is hurting him worse than I am now. I'll suffer through it, and I deserve to suffer for it. It's not fair to him, it my fucking fault, how don't you see that?"

Jeanie sighed, she knew Penny was stubborn, but she also knew how much she cared for Leonard. _I'll leave it for now, but I'll keep working on her. I'll keep pushing her to go home. I might eventually get her to go._ She didn't say anything for a few seconds, just looked at Penny. "OK, for now I'll leave it alone, except to say, Brent is not your fault. But, I do want to talk to you about what happened with Brent."

"What do you mean?"

"I just want to ask you some questions about that night," said Jeanie.

"Why?"

"Just play along with me for now," said Jeanie. "Like, how much do you remember drinking that night?"

"Just a glass of wine at Jake's," said Penny, "then another glass at his place."

"That's all?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmmmmmm, and you had a bad hangover?"

"Oh yeah," said Penny, "I had a bad headache, I was nauseous, was shaky on my feet, my eyes were blurry, I hurt all over…"

"Nauseous?" said Jeanie. "You aren't usually nauseous, are you?"

"Well, not very often," said Penny. "I have been one or two times before and yesterday."

"How long did you feel hungover?" said Jeanie.

"It was most of the day," said Penny. "I don't think I was fully back to normal until Thursday. Just didn't feel like I was right, know what I mean?"

"Not really, not for that long, anyway" said Jeanie. "Hmmmmm, OK, being hung over that long seems a bit weird. Anything else, that seemed strange to you?"

"No, the story he told me sounds plausible, it's something I've done before," said Penny. "Although the part of me saying something bad about Leonard doesn't sound right. But, if I was drunk, I guess it could have happened the way Brent said."

"I'm not sure I would trust Brent's word about anything," said Jeanie. "But, absent of any kind of memory from you, it's all we have to go on. Let me think about this some more. I may have more questions later."

"What kind of questions?"

"I really don't know, because I'm not sure myself, yet," said Jeanie, "I may have to look a few things up."

"What things?"

"I don't know," said Jeanie, "I have some ideas, but I have to narrow it down. I also have to talk to some other people I know in the business. But, I'll let you know when I got it."


	65. Chapter 64

**A/N This chapter is mostly about Leonard. It's not a deep dive into his** **psyche, but you get some hints, while he makes some plans. On another note, I finished the first draft of the story last night. There is still a lot of work to do. The end is twenty chapters ahead, and I've got third and final drafts to do for most of those twenty. There are several second drafts, plus copy corrections on all of them, so I don't see a change in timing for the release of new chapters. It's a good time to thank TBBT78 and bfm10 for all their suggestions and help so far. I really can't thank them enough. If it wasn't for them, this story, in it's present form, would have been impossible. Finally, it's going up a couple of hours early, as real life will intrude later this afternoon, my time.**

 **Chapter 64**

 **Apt 4A, 7:30 AM Monday December 3rd 2012.**

Leonard's alarm went off, and he struggled to reach over and shut it off. He was finally able to hit the button and then tried to get up.

Since Amy and Sheldon had put him to bed, he didn't drink any water or take any aspirin before going to bed, and he was now paying for that. His head hurt, his mouth was dry, and the rest of his body just didn't feel right. But, he knew if he didn't get moving, Sheldon would soon be in his room, complaining about Leonard being behind the morning schedule.

He made it to the shower and even took a chance of irritating Sheldon by taking a few extra minutes of letting the water beat on him, before he got out. After drying off, he went to the kitchen, and before pouring a cup of coffee, he took two aspirin and drank a glass of water.

Even with his efficiency reduced by the hangover, he was ready to go, before Sheldon, and they both made it to work by 8:45. Leonard unlocked his office, and turned on the coffee pot, before checking his voicemails. There was only one, from Dr Gablehauser, so he hit play and heard:

" **Dr Hofstadter, President Siebert and I need to talk to you this morning. Please come to President Siebert's office at 10:30 this morning. We'll see you there."**

 _Great,_ thought Leonard, _I'm hung over, and have to go talk to those two. I hope Eric has gotten through all my explanations and saw I was at a dead end._ _I'm in no shape to have to explain everything all over again._ Even if he didn't have to explain things, he was going to need several cups of coffee before going to the meeting. He walked over to the pot and poured his first cup.

 **Dr Cooper's office, Caltech 9:30 AM Monday December 3rd 2012.**

Sheldon was looking over Leonard's papers, along with several of his own, about this idea Leonard had. He had all the equations, but renormalization didn't work, it gave him an infinite amount of answers, when he tried to use the equations to calculate gravity.

Quantum Electrodynamics, or QED, along with Quantum Chromodynamics, or QCD, used the same equations, with different variables, because of the different particles. These could be renormalized, which basically change the energy limits, so various values could be calculated, including the shape of the reflections.

But, how was he supposed to be able to calculate the force of gravity, if he couldn't get an answer, except infinities? He had all these reflections, and not one way to do a calculation to see if the reflection were gravitons, the particle that carried the force of gravity.

He had to get it down to one number, to be able to do the calculations If he could figure what that one number was, he had the answers, in the reflections. He was thinking about it, when it suddenly came to him.

Why worry about all the infinities? He had the answer in the shape of all those faint reflections. If he put those in as the answer, he could reverse engineer the equations. Start with the answer, start with the QED or QCD equations, and find the steps needed to get from the equation to the answer in the form of a reflection.

Sure, it was trial and error, but if there was no way to distinguish between all the infinities, he could use trial and error for a few of them, get the right answers, and then find the equations. One he had the equations, he could see if he could derive them, from first principles.

He excitedly pulled out two extra white boards and started writing down the equations. Then, looking up the data for the unknown reflections, he put those in the answer, and started working.

 **President Siebert's office, Caltech 10:30 AM Monday December 3rd 2012.**

Leonard took another swig of coffee, while he nervously awaited for President Siebert and Dr Gablehauser. He still had a headache, and was just not feeling right overall. He heard the secretary's phone buzz, and was told he could go in.

He entered the office and saw they were at the same conference table they had been at, during the previous meeting. He was grateful they indicated he could sit down, and he sat, pulling his chair to the table. He reminded himself, that if they didn't want to let him go, he was going to quit.

Dr Gablehauser started, "Leonard, I looked over Sheldon's work, along with yours, and you seem to be correct. It looks like you're stuck at a dead end, while there is some promise in Sheldon's work. On that particular point, there is no reason not to let you go."

"However," started President Siebert, "there is the matter of the money. We don't want to lose that part of the endowment, but, we recognize that if you quit, we would lose it anyway. Oxford has agreed to let us keep about one third of the money. You, at Oxford, could still be working with Dr Cooper, passing along experimental results, to help him with his research. With this in mind, we have agreed to allow you to go to Oxford, while Dr Cooper works on his idea here, with you or someone else at Oxford, providing Dr Cooper the data."

"We would like to keep you associated with the university, but as you pointed out, we didn't award you tenure. So, we would like you to keep in touch with us, drop a note every now and then. This will give us a reason to allow you to return, if the situation ever permits."

Leonard was relieved, they were letting him go, so he wouldn't have to just quit, and it seems they were open to his returning, if he ever wanted to return. He thanked them, stood and shook their hands, then started to leave the office.

There were things he had to start doing, things he had to think about. He was almost to the door, when he heard, President Siebert, "Ahhh, Dr Hofstadter."

Leonard turned, "Yes sir?"

"I was told to ask you if you could be at your office at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Dr Whatney, and someone else will be calling to talk to you."

"Thank you sir," said Leonard, "I'll be there." With that, he left the President's office, going back to his.

 **Pasadena Comic Center 4:30 PM Monday December 3rd 2012.**

Leonard walked into the Comic Center, and did a quick look around. Lonely Larry was there, along with several others, but he didn't see Stuart. Leonard walked to the counter and waited, figuring Stuart was in the back.

Less than a minute later, Stuart came out of the back and walked to the counter and said, "Hi Leonard, what's up?"

Leonard looked around, and seeing no one was close, said, "Stuart, I'm going to need your help here in the next few weeks. But, you've got to promise me that you won't say anything, to anybody about it, until I tell you it's OK. And you can't ask any questions."

Stuart appeared intrigued, so he nodded and said, "OK, nothing about what you are going to tell me, and I can't ask questions, so what do you need?"

"I'm going to be selling almost all of my stuff," started Leonard. "Do you want to buy it?"

Stuart was surprised, he wanted to ask why. He had heard Raj and Howard talking about something going on between Leonard and Penny and was wondering if this had something to do with it.

"I'm not sure," he said, "I know just about everything you have, and I'm pretty sure that, right now, I can't afford all of it."

"Well, how about this," said Leonard, "I've got a good idea of what each is worth, but I want you to make sure I have it right. I'm going to trust you on this Stuart, and I'm going to pay you for your estimates on all my things."

"Does this have anything to do with you and Penny?" asked Stuart.

Leonard looked surprised, but the ache in the gut feeling returned.

"I overheard Raj and Howard taking about it," said Stuart.

Leonard was short with him, "Yes, it does. But, I'd rather not talk about why, remember, I told you no questions."

Stuart nodded.

Leonard continued coldly, "Once we have the estimates, you can buy what you want, and I'll find somewhere else to sell the rest, or sell it privately, or if you're willing, I'll let you sell what you don't buy, and send me the money."

Stuart was surprised by the abrupt change in his mood, but thinking about the offer, it seemed fair to him and he offered his hand to Leonard. Leonard shook his hand and said, "OK, I need to figure out a few things, and I'll get back to you for dates on when I'll need all of this done. See you later."

Leonard turned and walked out, Stuart looking at him as he left, wondering why Leonard would want to sell all of his collectables, and what, exactly, it had to do with Penny.

 **Apt 314 10:00 PM Monday December 3rd 2012.**

Jeanie had left a few minutes before, and Penny was now getting ready for bed. After Penny had finally gotten up, they had spent the day walking around Central Park, getting some lunch, and finally had come home and made dinner, and spent the evening talking about their day.

Their two-week break, over Thanksgiving would end tomorrow night, when the new script would arrive. Penny was looking forward to this, as it would take her mind off of her problems, with breaking up with Leonard, with Brent, with life in general. It was still very difficult for her, when she thought about Leonard, or their relationship or how she had broken up with him. She was trying to put it behind her, but he had been part of her life for so long now, not thinking about him, was proving to be nearly impossible.

She was also reproaching herself for the way she broke up with him. While she felt the breakup was necessary, to keep from hurting him even worse, she also felt her method could have been better. But, while she tried to think of a way it could have done better, nothing really came to her, leaving her thinking she was a terrible person.

Penny felt she had figured out a way of working with Brent, hell, Steve had complimented on her work with Brent, and he didn't even know what had happened. But, no one, except maybe Jeanie, understood how much effort it took, to get through scenes with him. She really disliked him, which made it extremely hard to appear in those scenes. It wasn't quite as bad when there were others in the scene, but it still took a lot of concentration.

Penny sighed as she got into bed. With everything she had to think about, she had been having trouble getting to sleep. She wasn't sure what she could do about it, because her mind kept going to all the different things she was thinking about. She laid down and turned off the light, hoping to fall asleep quickly.

 **CalTech Laser Lab, 7:45 AM Tuesday December 4th 2012.**

Leonard was in his office, yawning, drinking another cup of coffee. He had gotten there at 7:15, to wait for the 7:30 call from Geoff. But, it was now fifteen minutes after that time, and there still was no call and his eyes were closing. Suddenly the phone rang, Leonard opened his eyes and reached out, picked it up and said, "Hello."

"Leonard," said Geoff, sounding happy, "I want to thank you for getting up early to talk to us. I have Dr Alain Page here with me this afternoon, he also wants to speak with you."

"Sure Geoff," said Leonard, "put him on."

"He's already on, Leonard," said Geoff, "I have him on the speaker phone." Leonard could hear a soft, "Alain," and then Leonard heard a quiet, British voice say, "Dr Hofstadter, I'm Dr Alain Page, and I'm the head of the Atomic and Laser Physics group, here at Oxford University. I oversee the various people, that instruct students, do experiments, or work with the high energy lasers."

"I've been looking over all of your work, your work with Geoff, and I must say I'm impressed. I was looking over your idea, and for an experimentalist, you seem to have a good grasp of theory. Your idea seems brilliant, and a possible way to move forward."

Leonard winced, "I wouldn't go that far, Dr Page, you see…"

"Please call me Alain," said Dr Page. "In an informal setting like this, we don't tend to use titles."

"I understand, Alain, then please call me Leonard" said Leonard. "What I was going to say is that I've pretty much have come to a dead end on that idea. There is a chance that one of the theoretical physicists here has another idea, which would use the data Geoff and I have gathered."

"That's quite alright, Leonard," said Alain, "that happens in science. We're interested in you because of your experimental competence, not your theoretical. What you do have there will just be a bonus."

"Now, as I said, we've looked at your work, we've looked at your past work, and we've also talked to a Dr Gablehauser. He tells us that you currently have four graduate students you're helping with their projects, is this correct?"

"Yes, it is," said Leonard, "their work required using our lasers and they needed some instruction on their use and some of the theoretical reasoning."

"So, you have no problem with giving lectures, and tests, leading labs, helping students, those sorts of things?"

"No, Alain," said Leonard, "As long as I get to do some research along with it."

"Oh, we will have plenty of research subjects for you," said Alain. "But we need both right now, which is why we are really happy you asked about coming here. You are an outstanding experimentalist, and you work with students, which is why we want you to come and work with us. You may also end up running the laboratory."

Leonard was surprised, but pleased, "Thank you, Alain. I certainly didn't expect that."

"Well, it is a possibility. I believe your boss has talked to you and you know Cal Tech isn't fighting it."

"Yes, they talked to me," said Leonard, who then paused. "Er, not to be demanding, but would it be possible to provide me with a more formal…er an official offer? And, along with that, what you expect of me, what I would and wouldn't be expected to do by the university, those sorts of things, before I would say yes. I'd hate to agree, and then find out later things weren't working out, because of something we should have cleared up earlier."

"Of course, what we can do is send you the draft of a contract you would have to sign, along with specific duties you would be required to do. We can also send you the faculty handbook. You don't need to agree based on this, but it will be exactly what we expect, and if you agree, we can send the official paperwork."

"That sound's great, Alain," said Leonard. "What if I see something I don't agree with?"

"Then we'll have to discuss it," said Alain. "Most of that draft is normal expectations and requirements. But, as everyone is an individual, quite a bit of that draft copy can be changed, if we discuss it first. Now, if it's in the handbook, we may not be able to accommodate you."

"Oh, I understand. That sounds good like a good plan." said Leonard. "I will look for the paperwork later today. Is there anything else?"

"No, not now," said Alain, "at least not until you look it over, and see if there is anything you object to, or anything you would want to change, to which we could possibly object. If what we send you is agreeable, we would have to speak about your salary."

"We have an amount in mind, but it's for either a lecturer, or an experimentalist. Since you will be doing both, we'll have to figure out a way to put the two together. It will probably be something similar to Geoff, who does both. But, it's moot, until you agree and we start drawing up the contract and discussing salary."

"If there is nothing else," said Alain, "I'll let you go now. We hope to hear from you soon."

"Thank you, Alain," said Leonard. "If you get the paperwork to me today, I should be able to let you know tomorrow, how's that."

"That's excellent," said Alain, "then I hope to talk to you tomorrow. Geoff, is there anything you want to say?"

Leonard heard something in the background, then Alain came back on the phone, "He says, he'll talk to you this week, one way or another. I'll let you go now Leonard. I hope to talk to you tomorrow, have a good day."

"Thank you Alain," said Leonard, "I hope to talk to both of you tomorrow. I hope you both have a good evening. Good bye."

"Thank you Leonard, good bye."

"With that, they both hung up."

Leonard sadly looked around his office, then back at the phone. _I'm going to miss this place, my whole post graduate career was here. But, I can't be around Pasadena, just too many memories of Penny for me to deal with._ _I'm going to wait for a week or so, before I tell anyone. That will give Sheldon less time to say anything._

He sighed, _I've got to get with Stuart, and get that started. I've got to pack up my files, the end of the semester is in two weeks. I've got to let the advisors of my post grad group know I'm leaving, so they can find another laser advisor. I won't have much to pack at the apartment. Some clothes, books, games, not much else. I guess I'd better get started._

He turned, opened his cabinet, and started pulling his files out.


	66. Chapter 65

**A/N It seems weird, after a year and a half, not to have anymore of the first draft to write on this story. My first reader's job is complete, (thanks TBBT78) as I'm done writing, and they are done reading. I have to send my second reader two more second draft chapters, which will bring me to hapter 75, in second draft, my usual ten ahead of what's published. After this, each week I'll be doing the final draft of the next chapter to be published, then sending the second draft of the next chapter to my second reader. I'll have to find something else to do. Hmmmmm, I could restart Red Dead Redemption II, I had to give it up a few months ago, due to my wrist/elbow injury, those are better now, so, yeah, RDRII is my next project.**

 **Chapter 65**

 **Apt 314, 10:30 AM Tuesday December 4th 2012.**

Penny was sitting in her apartment, surfing the net, just looking at random things, when she received an email, from People Magazine. Opening the email, she found that People were going to name her the favorite new TV star. Penny was shocked and didn't know quite what to do, when her phone's tone for Jeanie started ringing. Penny picked up her phone and said, "Hi, Jeanie, what's up?" Before Jeanie could say anything, there was another tone, and looking at her phone's screen, she found Kelli was calling. She said, "Jeanie, Kelli is calling, I'll be right back."

Jeanie, sounding excited, said, "Go ahead, talk to her, it's probably for the same thing, call me back when you get done."

Penny disconnected with Jeanie and answered the phone, "What's going on Kelli?"

"Did you get the email from People?" asked Kelli.

"Yes," said Penny, "I just saw it. I think Jeanie knows about it too."

Kelli said, "Yeah, they probably want to talk to her, because they also want to talk to me. They would like to see you, at the studio, today at 1 PM. They want to shoot some pictures around the set, and ask you some questions, can you be there?"

Penny didn't really want to go, but Kelli sounded so excited about it, she told her she would be there at 1 PM. Kelli thanked her and said her goodbyes. Penny called Jeanie back and when she answered Penny asked, "Is this about People?"

"Yes," said Jeanie, still sounding excited, "isn't this great? This will really help your career. And, they want to talk to me, so I can tell them how great you are."

"Yeah, Kelli wants me down at the studio at 1PM," said Penny resignedly. "I guess they want to shoot some pictures and ask me some questions. I really don't want to do it."

"Are you nuts?" asked Jeanie

"Jeanie, it's the same thing," said Penny. "I don't feel I deserve it, you know you and Dave carry this show much more than I do."

"And, you know that's not true," said Jeanie. "Do you really not know how much good publicity you've brought to the show?"

"Look, all I know is that you and Dave have saved me more than I can count, in one way or another," said Penny. "When you add everything going on in my life right now, not to mention how this acting thing is not turning out like I expected, I'm really not in any mood to do this."

"Penny, you have to do it, Kelli…"

"I know, I know," said Penny. "I'll do it because Kelli is so excited about how much it will help me and the show. I know I owe her, so yes, I'm going in."

"That's better," said Jeanie. Wondering about the comment about this acting thing, she said, "Now, come up and see me when you get back."

"I will, now let me go get a shower and get ready."

"OK, Penny, talk to you later, goodbye."

Penny said, "Goodbye," and disconnected, then headed for the shower.

 **CalTech Laser Lab, 2:00 PM Tuesday December 4th 2012.**

Leonard was looking over the file Oxford had sent. It detailed what his new job would entail. Basically research into any ideas he had; reading classes, which meant lecturing in US terms, he had found out; and what they called tutorials. It would be a bit of a shift for him. While he would still be doing research, the paperwork they sent, showed he would not be running the lab. He would be lecturing and doing tutorials, although he wasn't clear on what exactly those were. A second page mentioned the possibility of running the laser lab, helping with other's research, but all that was yet to be decided.

There was also information for living arrangements, how professors were expected to act, both during and outside of classes. There were some minor differences, from Cal Tech, that Leonard was sure he would be able to adjust to, although he would have to ask about the dressing requirements, he had heard professorial dress, at Oxford, was much more formal.

There was also a handwritten page, talking about his current research, and how Oxford expected him to continue to perform the experiments, and send the results to Cal Tech. It was something Geoff was already doing, except, now, instead of the results being sent to Leonard, Leonard would be sending them to Sheldon. Also on the handwritten page was a detailed breakout of what Oxford was offering, in terms of pay, for Leonard's position. He noticed that they included the pay with and without him running the laser lab. He also noticed that part of his money would come from Trinity College, not Oxford University. _Hmmmmmmm, I'll have to ask about that._

The amounts were also dependent on where he lived. He could take a couple of rooms at the college, along with meals, and that would be taken out of his salary. But, it would be within walking distance of the lab, and he thought it best, for the first semester at least, to take advantage of these rooms. It would let him get acquainted with the area, and learn to drive on what was, for him, the wrong side of the road. Leonard did have some questions, and he had written them in the margin of the papers. Many of those were just minor things he felt sure wouldn't be a problem. He would talk to Geoff about most of it tomorrow, after talking to Alain about his salary. He felt the offer was low, but if he and Alain could work out the salary, he would be accepting the position.

He sent an email, telling them he would call at 3 PM, their time, then he started looking through his files, trying to determine which ones would be left here, and which he would send to Oxford. He knew he was going to be staying late here, and then he had to stop and talk to Stuart, so he wouldn't be able to take Sheldon home. He looked up Amy's number, on his phone, to ask her to take Sheldon home.

 **Apt 314, 6:00 PM Tuesday December 4th 2012.**

Penny had just gotten home, from the interview and the photo shoot. It would appear next week in the magazine, and on People's web site. Before she left the studio, she had gotten a message from Jeanie, that dinner would be ready around 6:30, and she should come up to Jeanie's apartment, around then, for dinner. Penny stopped by her apartment to drop off her purse and coat, then headed up to Jeanie's apartment, taking her bag with her. She knocked on the door and waited. After about a minute, she was getting ready to knock again, when the door opened and Jeanie said, "Come on in," before running back to the kitchen.

Penny entered and closed the door. She heard Jeanie say, "Sit down at the table, I have to finish putting the food in the oven, I'll join you in a minute or so."

Mindful of Penny's drinking, Jeanie asked, "Would you like some tea?"

Penny was expecting wine, but accepted the tea. She sat down, and took a sip. True to her word, Jeanie sat down a minute later. "So, tell me," said Jeanie, "how did it go?"

Penny spent the next 20 minutes telling Jeanie about the interview, telling her some of the questions, and her answers, then the photo shoot. How they used several of her costumes, to illustrate Jess, and some other clothes to make her appear more glamorous than Penny felt she was. At that point Penny continued talking, while she started setting the table, and Jeanie finished the dinner. She had made broiled chicken breasts with asparagus, and a baked potato for each of them. She put it on the table and they started eating, again, talking about the article and photo shoot. After they were done eating, they cleared the table, washed the dishes, and then went out to the living room, sitting on the couch.

Jeanie had sat down, but before Penny sat down, she brought over her bag and gave Jeanie her script. "That one is yours," said Penny. "I read mine while they were setting up different shots today."

Jeanie was surprised, since they had been off for two weeks, and she had forgotten her script would be arriving today, and especially surprised that Penny brought it. Jeanie thanked Penny, then paused, she wanted to ask Penny something, but she was aware of how Penny could close down. Finally, she said, "Penny, can you tell me what you meant earlier today, by this acting thing not going as you expected?"

Looking sad, Penny sighed, feeling an emotional pain, "You sound like Leonard."

"That didn't answer my question."

Penny paused, she was wondering if Jeanie was going to ask about Leonard, or how she was feeling about it, but she didn't say anything or move.

Jeanie looked at her, "What did you mean about this acting thing not working out?"

Penny thought about the question, and Jeanie pushing it, she hadn't expected that. She had been feeling down about everything, but she had been passing it off as a carryover of her sadness at that night, and breaking up with Leonard, but she knew there was more. Jeanie was looking at her, and she figured it wouldn't hurt to talk to her about it.

"It's actually a combination of things, I think," said Penny. "You know how down I am about what happened with Brent, and my breakup with Leonard. Oh, I know it's not Leonard's fault, it's mine, and the way I acted didn't help. I think those things are affecting how I feel about working on this series, or in the business, generally."

"What do you mean?"

"It's probably my fault," said Penny sadly, "because of how I pictured what the business was like. I saw the glitz, and the glamour. The red carpet, the interviews, and photo shoots. I never realized how much work went into a series, until I started here. Or how much work those photo shoots are, until today."

"And, it's not just all the work. If I do this job right, it takes all my time. I'm at the studio all day, then when I get home at night, I have to study my lines, my marks, keeping my character consistent, all of that."

"Starting out in acting isn't easy, Penny," said Jeanie. "It get's somewhat easier, once you have the routine down. But, yeah, you still have to study, your lines, your marks and all that, which is going to limit your free time."

Penny looked sad, "But, I miss my friends. I can't find any friends here because I don't have time during the week, and when I do have time, on the weekends, I don't know anyone to go do anything with, except for you. So how do I make new friends?"

Jeanie looked a Penny with compassion, "Do you remember when we first met, I told you we were probably going to be friends?"

"Yes, I do," said Penny, "how did you know?"

"Penny," said Jeanie, "we spend a lot of time together on set, and off. With work, we don't have a lot of time to see other people, so cast mates can end up as friends. We hit it off so well, and got along right from your audition, so I couldn't see there being any problems between us. I figured we would become close, and we have."

"Oh, it can go the other way, you end up hating the people you work with. In your case, with what happened, you really dislike Brent, and that's understandable."

Penny nodded, "OK, I can see that. It still doesn't make me feel any better about not seeing anyone else. And, now, I can't go home, because I broke up with Leonard, again, that's all on me. If I go back, I'll run into Leonard, and that wouldn't be fair to him, so I stay here, and dont get to see my other friends."

"You know, I still think you should go back and talk to Leonard…"

"No, Jeanie," said Penny, "it's better for him, with us broken up. If I stay with him, I'll just end up causing him more pain in the long run, and I don't want to do that to him, so just leave that alone right now. Besides, with what I did, and how I acted after, I don't deserve him, he deserves someone better than me."

"OK fine," said Jeanie putting up her hands, "I'll just leave it alone."

Penny tried changing the subject, "There's also that situation with someone telling the rags I'm causing trouble. That's something I never expected. Seeing my name in the paper, talking about how awful I am, how useless. And they still haven't found out who is doing that, even with two new articles, over the last couple of weeks. I just don't know if I'm up to having that happen all the time."

"It doesn't happen all the time," said Jeanie. "Those papers will take whoever is hot, right then, and try to come up with the most lurid things they think they can get away with. Don't forget, those papers wouldn't be in business, if it wasn't for those people out there who will buy them, because they want to see what the stars are doing."

"I had it happen to me, a couple of times. Once when I was on _Sex and the City_ and another when I was doing a movie. Actually, the movie thing was more about my co-star. He was married and someone got a picture of us, out having coffee, and those papers had a field day. Here's the funny part, his wife was there, she had stepped out for a moment to go to the bathroom, and that's when they got the picture. Had to laugh at that," Jeanie was chuckling.

Penny thought about it, she remembered buying those types of magazines even back when she was still in Nebraska. Now, however, she felt guilty for buying them, knowing what it was like from this end. "Well, it did happen, remember the picture and article I showed you with me and Brent?"

Jeanie stopped chuckling, "Yes, I remember. It's just another example of them trying to build something up, that isn't there. You're news, dating a co-star is entertainment news."

"Well, I'm not dating him, and I don't like it," said Penny. "It's shit like that, that makes me want to give up."

"You don't have to Penny," said Jeanie, "You're my friend, and I'll be here to help you. But, for now, we have to go through the script, to get ready for the table read tomorrow. You said you've already read it. Well, read it again, while I read it for the first time, think of alternate ways to do the line reading, and we can talk about it when we're done, OK?"

Penny nodded, she was choking up, "Yeah, I can do that. Thank you Jeanie, for this, for talking to me, for not giving up on me, for…for just everything."

Jeanie smiled, "Get reading."

They both opened their scripts and started reading.

 **CalTech Laser Lab, 6:45 AM Wednesday December 5th 2012.**

Leonard had just unlocked the lab office, and he went over to turn on the coffee maker. His travel mug was still half full, so he would be fine, until the coffee in the lab was ready. He unpacked everything from his messenger bag, connected his computer to the docking station, then pulled out all the paperwork he had received from Oxford the previous day, with all the notations he had put on the paperwork. His plan this morning was to call and talk to Geoff, and whoever was able to offer Leonard the job, and haggle over pay. He expected it to be Alain, but he had mentioned the president of the college, so Leonard wasn't sure.

Leonard spread out the paperwork, then dialed Geoff's number. He listened to the curious, he thought, ring, and after the second ring, he heard Geoff, "Hello?"

"Hi Geoff, it's me Leonard."

"Well, good to hear from you, Leonard," said Geoff. "Thanks for letting us know the time with the email. I have Alain here, and he just got off the phone to the President of Trinity College, and the Chancellor. So, what is your decision?"

"I have some questions and caveats, and if we can work out the salary thing, I am going to accept your offer. Then we can talk over some minor things."

"And those are?" He heard Alain ask.

"Let's do the salary first. I was looking at the salary that was offered. I asked around here and did some checking," started Leonard. "Since I'm both lecturing and doing research, and possibly running the lab, I believe that figure is low by about twenty thousand. So, I think it should be increased by that much, what do you think?"

"Actually," said Alain, "I told the Chancellor, that you might question the original offer, and we needed to be prepared to raise our offer. I think an increase of twenty thousand is a bit on the high side. Especially if you end up not running the lab, but it's not an outrageous demand, so another twenty thousand it is."

Leonard was surprised, as he expected to ask for twenty, and hope for fifteen, but expect only ten thousand more. That was pretty easy and he had a fleeting thought that he should have asked for more, but as the original offer was already quite a bit over what he was getting at CalTech, he simply said, "That's fine."

"What else?" Asked Alain.

"What about the possibility of running the lab?"

"We're not sure yet," said Alain. "There are some things here that we have to figure out. Rest assured, that if we pick you to run the lab, we'll talk about pay and your other duties. Anything else?"

"Nothing really," said Leonard. "I have some minor quibbles, that I can probably go over with Geoff, required hours, time in labs, those type of things. Most of this is basically informational for me. If we run into a major problem, I can get in contact with you, how's that?"

"That sounds quite acceptable," said Alain. "so, I'll turn you over to Geoff, for those minor quibbles." He chuckled, "Welcome to Oxford Leonard."

Leonard said, "Thank you Alain…I…oh, wait a minute, there is one other thing."

"And what is that?"

"Do I have to let you know, now, if I want to take advantage of a set of rooms? I thought it best for my first semester to stay close, and practice driving, before I look to get my license."

"Well, you don't have to let me know now," said Alain, "but, I'm glad you did. It will help us reserve you a set of rooms. And I agree with your thinking. You'll have the spring term to get aquatinted with the college, the university, and the town. Driving, in the town is quite restricted, so living in the rooms is probably best for you."

"Is that it, for now?"

"Yes, it is," said Leonard.

"I'm really looking forward to meeting you, goodbye, Leonard"

"Thank you and goodbye, Alain," said Leonard, "I'm looking forward to meeting you too."

There was a brief pause, then he heard Geoff, sounding rather jovial, say, "So what exactly are these minor quibbles?"


	67. Chapter 66

**A/N. Yeah, yeah,** **I know, it's a couple of hours early, but real life and all. As a matter of fact, due to things I have coming up, it may become the new normal time. It** **still feels weird that I don't have anymore of this to write. Just minor rewrites and edits for second and third drafts. I am doing preliminary work on two new stories. One, I'm not going to say anything about, just yet, and the other is a story about Penny finding out she's pregnant, and some of what happens after she tells** **Leonard. I've had this story idea for a while, and it's the reason I've only read two, of the Pregnant Lenny stories that came out after the announcement on the show.**

 **Chapter 66**

 **Studio 44, Noon Wednesday December 5th 2012.**

The table read had just finished, and neither of them were needed for anything special this afternoon, so Steve had told them they were both released for the day. They started toward their dressing rooms, but Jeanie missed Penny's hesitation in climbing the stairs.

Fortunately, Penny got to her dressing room, without incident, then packed everything, and left. She hesitated as she passed Brent's door, and looked nervously at the stairs. But, Brent wasn't around and there was no one on the stairs, so she walked down the stairs and then went to Jeanie's door and knocked. Jeanie came out, and they left the building, walking home. Jeanie was trying to talk to Penny, but as had been happening more and more over the last few weeks, Penny wasn't very responsive.

Jeanie finally gave up and they continued to the store, where they each bought several meals, and Penny bought some wine, despite Jeanie's trying to persuade her not to buy any. On the way home, Jeanie had tried to ask Penny over for the night, but Penny begged off, saying she wasn't in the mood. Penny said goodbye to Jeanie at the elevator and got to her apartment, and opened the door. After entering, she put her groceries away, and then sat down at her table and tried to concentrate working on her script. But, her mind kept returning to the new tabloid reports, of Penny still causing problems on the set.

Several times she had an urge to get some wine, but she really wanted not to start drinking, especially this early, as she knew where it would lead. She finally gave up on her script, and turned on the TV, watching it for a couple of hours. Around 6 PM, she made herself a dinner of some salad, Ramen noodles and a couple slices of bread. She finished, cleaned up and did her dishes, then sat and watched some more television, for about an hour. She finally turned the TV off, going back to working on her script. It went much better than earlier, as she was able to go through it several times, adding notes on her lines and blocking. After about two hours of work, she was satisfied and closed her script. She watched a few more hours of TV, fighting the urge to get some wine, and around 11 PM, turned off her lights and started preparing for bed.

 **Apt 4A, 9:30 PM Wednesday December 5th 2012.**

Leonard had just finished packing up a box of his collectibles from his bedroom. He was sure there were going to be several more boxes from the living room. He carefully put four items, from his bedroom, into his closet, then went out to the living room. He looked over the bookcases, and picked out several other things, and brought them back to his closet also. Those items were going to Raj, Howard, and Sheldon. He had hand-picked those items to prevent any fights between the guys. Everything else was going to Stuart, and if any of the guys wanted those items, they could purchase them from Stuart.

He started making a list of everything else in his bedroom. Tomorrow, he would start listing everything in the living room. He finished the list, and then signed on to his computer, putting all the items into a spreadsheet, printed two copies and then saved it. He would drop off one copy at Stuarts, with the collectibles, tomorrow, so Stuart could start figuring out prices for the items.

He now signed into his Facebook account. All he found was a video clip Raj had sent to all four of them a week ago, with a cat looking like it was playing the piano. He chuckled at that, then looked at his account. He noticed that he hadn't gotten anything from anyone else for a couple of weeks before that. A thought occurred to him. He would be going to England, and the only people he would be in contact with, were people he knew. He had their email or phone numbers, so why bother with Facebook? Why not get a fresh start? So, he spent the next half hour saving any of his photos he wanted, down to his hard drive, then took the steps to delete his account.

After he finished, he got his phone and looked at his Twitter account and found he was down to 36 followers. He never had more than forty, and he hadn't posted, or gotten any replies, in almost a month. It only took about 15 minutes to delete that account. Afterward, he checked his email, and finding nothing there, signed off, and then started preparing for bed. After he completed everything and got into bed, he realized he hadn't thought of Penny for most of the day. The talk with Geoff in the morning, working on the lab in the afternoon, and listing and packing his collectibles tonight, had kept him busy. Now, trying to get to sleep, he was thinking of her, it was going to take a while to get to sleep.

 **Apt 314, 9:45 AM Thursday December 6th 2012.**

Jeanie knocked on Penny's door, and Penny gathered her things, left the apartment, locked her door and they both started for the studio. It was an unusually warm day and their normal 15-minute walk was rather enjoyable. They entered the production facility, made their way to their studio, and walked toward Jeanie's dressing room. Before Jeanie could enter, she saw Penny hesitate, at the bottom of the steps. Looking up she could see one of the crew and Brent, near his dressing room.

Jeanie turned and said, "How about I walk up with you?"

"No," said Penny, "you really don't have to do that."

"I don't have to," said Jeanie, "I want to." So they both started up the stairs. As they passed the two men, Penny looked down at the sets, but Jeanie stared right at Brent, and gave him a smirk, before they both entered Penny's dressing room.

"Thanks, Jeanie," said Penny, "but you…"

"No buts," said Jeanie, "I know it bothers you when they make those snide little comments, and I also know you don't want to say anything, because it's usually two of them, with just you."

"So here's what's going to happen, I'm going to bring you to your dressing room, and back down, whenever I can, or until I find a way to make it clear to Brent that I know what he's doing, and I can do something about it."

"But…"

"I said, no buts," countered Jeanie. "I know it b others you, and it's something I can do to help. So just wait until I come and get you. We're here together all the time, so a minute or two here and there isn't going to be a big deal, OK?"

Penny nodded and Jeanie turned to go, closing the door as she left. Brent was still in his doorway, and he looked angrily at Jeanie. Jeanie just smirked at him and walked on by, heading for her dressing room.

 **CalTech Laser Lab, 8:00 AM Thursday December 6th 2012.**

Leonard had barely gotten into the lab, when his phone started ringing. He put his stuff down and hurriedly picked up the phone, "Hello," he said.

"Hi Leonard," said Geoff, "how are you doing?"

"I'm good," said Leonard, "I didn't expect to hear from you, what's going on?"

"I'm going to be your liaison," said Geoff. "If you have any questions, if you need something, if we need to contact you, it will all be through me."

"Hey, that's great," said Leonard, sounding excited "That's the best I could have hoped for. I have a singular point of contact, and it's someone I get along with."

"Well, one of the first things, I have to tell you, is you have to be here on the 26th of December."

"What? You said the end of the year," said Leonard. "That's in only three weeks, and I have a week to spend b before that, so I can see some people, before I leave. This is only going to leave me a couple of weeks to get everything done."

"We apologize for that." said Geoff, "But, you have to get here, all your paperwork done, get your rooms, develop your syllabus, prepare your lectures and get to know the lab, all before the semester starts on the 16 of January. The 26th is a holiday, and the 27th the University is closed, but I'll have some paperwork for you to fill out, so you'll have everything filled out, when we go in on the 28th."

"I'm sure there will be some others things we have to take care of, or things that may require more time, so we want you to get here to give us two days after Christmas, and two before and after New Years to process in here. That will give you two weeks to work with the staff and for everything else."

"Wow, three weeks?" said Leonard, thinking of everything he needed to do.

"How much furniture will you have?"

Leonard came back to the call, "Don't the rooms have furniture?"

"Yes, they do, at least the basics," said Geoff, "and since you'll be staying in there, you shouldn't need your furniture right away. Can your books, clothes and other personal items fit into a closet?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Well, we are allowed to ship two crates about two meters high, by a 1.5 meters square, by air. So what ever you can fit into two crates of that size, you can have here when you arrive, of course you'll have to do without before you go."

"Well, if I leave in two weeks," said Leonard, "it will be another week before I get there, then a few days, before I move in. As I said, there are a few places I want to stop to visit, before I come over there, so there shouldn't be a problem doing without."

"Well, we'll set up your flights," said Geoff. "We'll get you one from LA to New York, if you need to make changes, you'll have to make those and pay for the changes. Your flight to here will probably be on British Airways, out of JFK, in New York, on Christmas evening."

Leonard thought about it. _Penny's not around, she's the one that loved Christmas. Sheldon doesn't like Christmas, so, that's fine._ "That sound's fine, Geoff."

"OK, I'll arrange that, and get to work on getting you set up with rooms, food, all of that."

"Thanks, Geoff," said Leonard.

"You're welcome," said Geoff. "Oh, by the by, I wouldn't worry about a car for quite a while. Traffic is very limited in the city center of Oxford, and since you'll be living right there, a car isn't strictly necessary. You may want to look into a bike."

 _A bike?_ thought Leonard. _I don't know how to ride a bike. I can walk._ "I'll see about it," said Leonard weakly.

"I'll let you go now," said Geoff. "If you have a question, drop me an email overnight, and I'll try to get you an answer the next morning. Goodbye, Leonard."

"Thank you, Geoff, I'll talk to you later, goodbye," said Leonard. They both disconnected. Leonard sighed as he looked around the lab. He'd been here for a long time, and now it was ending. He felt a sadness, then remembered why it was ending and felt even worse. He shook his head to clear it. He had more work to do, packing everything up.

 **Studio 44, 4:00 PM Thursday December 6th 2012.**

Penny waited for Jeanie, like the day before, then they both left the studio, on their way home. Before getting there, Jeanie, again asked Penny over for dinner, but again, Penny politely declined. Penny wanted to work on her scenes herself, as she only had two scenes with Jeanie this week, the others were with one of the guest stars. Since she wouldn't be working much with Jeanie, she decided that it would be better to work on those scenes by herself and let Jeanie work on hers.

Once she was done, she pulled out her script, and started looking at the notes, rewriting them when they weren't clear, and doing different readings. After a couple of hours, she finally closed her script. She turned on the TV, and was flipping through the channels. She wasn't finding anything to watch, and after about 30 minutes, she turned the TV off.

She made dinner, ate, and then did her dishes. She again pulled out her script and spent another hour working on it, then turned on the TV, and watched for another hour before she couldn't find anything, and so shut the TV off. _Now, what?_ She really didn't know what to do. She realized she couldn't call Leonard, and suddenly, Penny felt very lonely. She thought about going to get some wine, do some drinking, so she wouldn't have to think about it. But, she really didn't want to, because she had to work the next morning, and she didn't want to go in with a hangover. She finally decided to just go to bed early.

She started preparing for bed, but it didn't help as she kept thinking about Leonard, which led to her thinking about how lonely she was. _I was so stupid to go to Brent's, to believe he had changed._ Tears started falling from her eyes. _I was such an idiot to get drunk and sleep with him. I haven't changed,_ she thought, _I'm still the same slut I was in high school._ This brought even more tears and she was crying as she got into bed. She just let the tears come, as she cried herself to sleep.

 **Comic Center, 6:00 PM Thursday December 6th 2012.**

Stuart saw Leonard struggling to open the door to the store and rushed over to open the door for him. Leonard carried the box in, setting it on the counter. Stuart looked into the box and saw six different figurines, several books, and an odd looking object. Stuart turned to Leonard and said, "You're getting rid of your light saber?"

"Yes," said Leonard, "I told you, just about everything. I have several things I'm giving the other guys, but almost everything else is going. I simply won't have the room over there, and I probably won't have a group like I have here, over there."

"I've got a list of of the stuff i the box, but I'll get some more done tonight, and bring that in tomorrow. I hope to have the completed list by Saturday."

"That will be fine," said Stuart, "how much time will I have to sell all this?"

"Take your time," said Leonard, "I'll be leaving in a couple of weeks…"

Leonard noticed the shock in Stuart's face, "Two weeks? I can't sell all of this in two weeks."

"I know," said Leonard, "but I don't expect you to sell everything by the time I leave. Sell things as you can, and say, once a month, send me the money as you get it."

Stuart nodded, and started looking at the list Leonard gave him, "I think I can sell most of this rather quickly. Most of these things are rare collectibles, things a lot of people want."

Leonard nodded and said, "Just put a value on it, what you expect to get, and give it back to me, so I have a rough estimate on how much to expect."

Leonard pulled out the light saber, and said, "How much for this?" Leonard had looked it up, and made a few calls. He was checking on Stuart, if he was honest about this, he would be honest about everything else.

Stuart looked it over, then went behind the counter, pulled out a book, flipped some pages and ran his finger down one page. He looked at Leonard and said, "This is a numbered, limited edition, right?"

Leonard nodded, "Yep, number 107 of 500."

"It's worth somewhere between $175 to $200," said Stuart, "so I can give you about $150 to $175."

Leonard nodded, again. He was aware of the prices, and Stuart was right on them. He knew he could trust him, but it was good to have verification. "I know you'll try to get the best price you can, and you'll get five percent of what ever you sell, but do me a favor, and don't try to get the best price, if it means you're not going to sell it. I'd rather sell it cheaper, then not sell it, we can split the difference."

Stuart looked at Leonard, "Thanks, I'm not sure I can afford to pay for the difference."

Leonard grinned, "OK, you can take it out of my cut. I'll see you tomorrow, with some more stuff, and another list."

"OK," said Stuart, "er, Leonard?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to miss you," said Stuart, " you've been a good friend. I can't believe you'll be gone in two weeks. I want you to know, I'll get the best price I can, you can depend on it."

Leonard now felt guilty about checking up on Stuart. "I'm going to miss you too. I'll tell you what Stuart, I'll give you ten percent of what ever you sell, you deserve it." With that, Leonard turned and walked away, leaving the store. As he walked to his car, he was thinking about what had to be done that night.

 _I need to get my paperwork together and send that, so Geoff can get my visa application started, get my flight to England set up, and get the packing company dates set up. I have the password, so I can set up my Email, with Oxford. Pack a few more things to bring to Stuart, and list half of the rest of my things for Stuart. What else…what else…Oh yeah, I got to stop and get something for dinner._

He was also thinking about Sheldon. He felt bad about keeping this from him, but he wanted to tell him as late as possible. It would give him less time to think about it, less time he would have to find objections, and less time for it to be a distraction to Leonard. He was forming a plan in his head for one objection he knew Sheldon would bring up. Leonard arrived at his car, got in and started it, preparing to drive home.


	68. Chapter 67

**A/N Two things about my copy editor, fixer, and second draft reader, bfm10. First off, Happy Birthday bfm10 (it's a few days late, but since I only put this out on Sunday, it's my first chance here.), and B (inside joke) they saved me here. They sent me a file, on which they had done their magic editing. I did something wrong, and I lost that file, but didn't find that out for a few days. Fortunately, they had a copy and sent it to me, saving me a lot of work. So a big thank you to bfm10. As you may note, this is again a couple of hours early, but it will probably be the new time from here on out. And, finally, there is some deeper physics in this one, but I tried to keep it as simple as possible for everyone.**

 **Chapter 67**

 **Studio 44, 4:30 PM Friday December 7th 2012.**

Penny and Jeanie walked from Penny's dressing room, and down the stairs. Jeanie had gone there, to walk with Penny as she left the studio. It was Jeanie's way of preventing Brent, or any of his friends from harassing Penny. They decided to stop at the store for some food, before getting home. Jeanie had also picked up some wine. While she was concerned about the amount of alcohol Penny had been drinking, she had some questions to ask Penny, and she felt it would be easier to approach those questions, if her and Penny were just talking, relaxing, and having some wine.

Jeanie had asked Penny up to her apartment for dinner, and though Penny had tried to decline, Jeanie had been insistent, until finally Penny agreed. They had gotten home around 5:30, and Jeanie told her to come up to the apartment at 6 PM. Penny had taken her things to her apartment, put them away, and then headed up to Jeanie's. After getting there, Jeanie had told Penny she had ordered some Chinese food and it would be there by 6:30. She poured herself and Penny a glass of wine and they sat in her living room. They took turns sipping their wine and talking about work, and the upcoming holiday season. Penny found out Jeanie was taking a quick trip to Boston, prior to Christmas, as her parents would be gone from before Christmas until after New Years. They were taking a trip to Florida, to visit some friends of theirs, in Sarasota. Penny was still down about her whole situation, but she thanked Jeanie for coming to get her, so she didn't have to deal with Brent, or any of his friends, while Penny was alone.

Their food came, and Jeanie paid for it, gave the guy a tip and they spread everything out and started eating. By 7:30, they had finished, did the dishes and put everything away. Jeanie poured another couple of glasses, she was watching the time, to make sure there was an hour between each glass. Jeanie had talked some about how she was going to be gone on Saturday, one of her friends was getting married. She wanted to know how Penny was feeling, and even offered to stay home, but Penny couldn't allow that. She told Jeanie she would be fine alone, and that Jeanie should go ahead.

They talked a little bit about the wedding and then Jeanie said, "I hope you don't mind me bringing it up again, but can I ask you some more about what happened with Brent?"

Penny looked uncomfortable, "I'd rather not, and besides, I already told you, I can't remember anything."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you mean, am I sure?" said Penny sounding defensive. "I told you, I don't remember, so I can't tell you anything about it."

"Can I ask you a few questions? Maybe something will bring up a memory."

"Why?" asked Penny.

"I've been thinking about some of the things you told me," said Jeanie, "and it may not be as simple as you getting too drunk, and blacking out."

"What else could it be?" asked Penny.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," said Jeanie. "I sent an email to several friends of mine, who have worked with Brent before, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. Let's go over it."

Penny shrugged, "OK, fine, what do you want to know?"

"Like, how many drinks do you remember having?"

"I had one at Jakes," said Penny, "and I know I had at least one, at Brent's."

"Well, that doesn't sound like enough for you to black out."

"Brent told me I kept asking for another drink, every time we finished a scene," said Penny. "We had seven or eight scenes, so I guess it's possible I drank that much."

"You said you don't remember anything," said Jeanie. "Nothing? Not even something that you aren't sure was that night?"

"No," said Penny, "I couldn't remember anything, so when I asked Brent, he told me some things, but you said not to trust what he said."

"No, you shouldn't," said Jeanie. "But, do you remember something he said, maybe it will jog a memory of yours?"

"No. I don't think so," said Penny, concentrating hard. "Wait a minute, when I first talk to him, after it happened, I remember something about undoing a belt and zipper, that was after he told me I said I wanted to suc…" Penny put her hand over her mouth and stopped. She felt sick to her stomach, and she blushed.

Jeanie looked at her with her eyes wide, and said, "Keep going."

"I don't want to," said Penny, "you know damn well what I meant." She paused for a few seconds, "He told me what I said to him, but I couldn't tell you if it was that night, or some other memory." Penny looked down, "After all, I've had enough of those nights before."

"You said you had one drink at Brent's," said Jeanie. "Did you see him pour it?"

"Hmmmmmm, no, I don't think so," said Penny. "He asked me if I wanted anything, I said wine, and…and then…I…um…uh…oh yeah, I couldn't find my script, so I started looking into my bag, and when I found it, he was bringing the drink over to me. Why?"

"I'm not sure yet," said Jeanie, "which is why I'm waiting for my friend to get back to me."

"Do you think he put something in my drink?"

"I don't know, I don't have enough information, yet," said Jeanie. "You said you were hung over, how badly?"

"Very badly, I had a headache all day," said Penny, "I just felt off all day, until the next day. Oh, also my vision was blurry for a while, and I was nauseous for a bit."

"Anything else?"

"I'm trying to remember," said Penny, "but, I don't think so. It just felt like a really bad hangover."

"OK," said Jeanie rubbing her chin with her hand, "can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Just keep thinking about it, when you can," said Jeanie, "and if you remember something, let me know."

Penny looked at Jeanie, with her eyes wide, "You think I was drugged, don't you?"

"I just don't know," said Jeanie, "I suspect it, but I told you I simply don't have enough information. Just try to remember anything else, please? It may help me figure it out."

Penny nodded her head, "I can do that, but I don't think it's going to help."

"Just keep trying, please?" said Jeanie, her voice hinting at begging. Penny nodded and Jeanie continued, "Ok, I guess that's enough for now. I think we should be heading for bed. I know I got to get some sleep, cause I have a long day tomorrow."

Penny got up, said goodbye to Jeanie, then left for her own apartment.

 **Apartment 4A, 10:00 AM Saturday December 8th 2012.**

Leonard was waiting for Amy to arrive. He had plans to list all the collectibles on the bookshelf in the living room, by writing down what each of them were, and the condition he felt they were in. This was the last list he needed to prepare. He would take it to Stuart today, and start packing things tomorrow. He planned to bring each box to the comic book store, as he filled it. He was waiting, because he didn't want Sheldon to be there while he prepared his lists. He would ask questions, and when he figured out Leonard was leaving, and he would bug Leonard about it.

But, Leonard wasn't prepared to tell anyone he was leaving, because he didn't want to hear them go on and on about why he shouldn't leave. But, not telling them, was making him feel guilty about his silence. After all, Sheldon had been his best friend for over eight years, and his roommate for almost ten. He'd known Howard and Raj for even longer. The idea of his telling them he was up and leaving, in two weeks no less, terrified him.

So, after Amy and Sheldon left, Leonard would start working on his list. It was almost 10:30, before Amy arrived to take Sheldon to where ever they were going. Sheldon was complaining about her being late and Amy sarcastically apologized for not taking a traffic accident into account. It was only a few minutes later when they left, with Sheldon still complaining about her being late.

Leonard was still chuckling about that as he walked over and turned on his computer, and set his first sheet next to it. He then took a fresh sheet, walked over to the wall, and started cataloguing the rest of his items, expecting to have four to five hours to finish everything, before Sheldon returned. It had taken him four sheets to list everything, and he had just sat down at his desk so he could enter them into his computer, when Sheldon stormed into the apartment.

Leonard turned and said, "What are you doing back so soon?"

Sheldon looked at him, and said, "Amy did not appreciate me explaining why being a half hour late was inexcusable. I also told her she should have expected some sort of accident on the way over, and left earlier."

"Why would you make a big deal about that?" asked Leonard.

Sheldon ignored him, and continued, "On top of that, she wanted to go to a place to do some basket weaving. Basket weaving, Leonard. She specifically told me we could go to the train store, not to some hippy basket weaving place."

"That's it, buddy," said Leonard, shaking his head, "keep digging."

"We weren't digging," said Sheldon, "we were talking. I told her I wasn't going to any place to do basket weaving, and do you know what she did? She turned around and brought me home. Can you believe it?"

"Women, eh?"

"I know, they…" Sheldon paused as he looked at the lists next to Leonard's computer, and the list on the screen. "Leonard, why are you listing all of your collectables?"

Leonard froze for a second, then said, "I uh…well, it's…uh…well, you see, I was looking into…into…ah, renters insurance. Yeah, renters insurance, and they wanted a list of all my possessions and an estimate of their worth. That way, if someone breaks in and takes my stuff, I can get it replaced. Remember when someone broke in and you wanted to move to Bozeman? You had to pay for the new computer yourself.

Sheldon looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Leonard?"

"Yes, Sheldon?"

"I think I have your idea figured out. There is still a lot of work to do, but I have the beginnings, can I show it to you?"

Leonard looked at his lists and what was on his screen. He realized it wasn't going to get done today, with Sheldon home, and he was interested in what Sheldon planned to do. He nodded and said, "You go get everything you need, while I put this stuff away. We can meet here in about fifteen minutes, how's that?"

Sheldon smiled and started toward his bedroom, while Leonard gathered the papers with all of his collectibles on them, and turned off his computer. Ten minutes later, Sheldon had white boards set up, and a stack of papers, ready to explain everything to Leonard. Sheldon asked Leonard if he was ready, and when he said yes, Sheldon started explaining.

 **Apartment 4A, 3:00 PM Saturday December 8th 2012.**

Sheldon had been explaining his thoughts, the paths he had tried, and the equations he used, for over four hours. There were sections that Leonard struggled to understand, but he felt he had the basics for everything, so he stopped Sheldon's explanation.

He looked over the white boards, and said, "Hmmmmmm, let's see if I understand this. You think the shapes of those weak reflections, were gravitons. So, since you had the answers for the equations that determine the reflection's shape, you just need to find the starting parameters for the shape calculations. Once you had the starting parameters, you would assume those parameters represented the gravitons, mathematically, as the answers to the quantum equations. So, if you know the total energy, and the starting parameters for the shape equations, you have the beginning and ending numbers, and all you would have to do, is find the quantum gravity equations.

He paused, looking at Sheldon. Sheldon nodded and said, "Yes, so far you have it right."

"OK," said Leonard, "but, you also realized that Quantum Gravity, would have their own equations, different from other quantum fields. What you are trying to do, if I understand this, it to take we know about gravity, from General Relativity, and the equations for the other quantum fields, to try a trial and error method, to find the equations for quantum gravity."

"Yes."

"Have you done that yet?" asked Leonard.

"No yet," said Sheldon, "but, the Relativity equations, the tensor structure, and the Quantum equations, give me some hints. Of course, there are so many possible equations that could produce the answers, remember the answers are infinity with the current method. I have what I think are the answers, and the beginning numbers, so if I try and equation, and it doesn't give me the known answers, I can toss that equation. Once I have equations that work, I can check the answers against the answers in relativity, and then I need to see if I can derive those equations, on their own, without trial and error."

"It's similar to what Einstein did with General Relativity. He used a trial and error method, to find the tensor equations, and when he found something that worked, then found the derivation. Of course, David Hilbert derived them first, being the better mathematician, but without Einstein, he wouldn't have had anything to work with."

Leonard looked at the boards, and at the papers scattered around. It really looked like Sheldon was on his way to figuring it out. And if he did, he would win a Nobel, for combining Quantum Field Theory with General Relativity. Leonard felt a touch of jealousy, because after all, it was his idea to use the reflections, so he should get some credit, somewhere. But, then he realized, he would never have thought to combine things, put the calculations together, and do the trial and error work, the way Sheldon had. If it worked out, he could be satisfied in knowing he had a minor part in the research that had led Sheldon to his discovery.

His phone rang, he saw it was Geoff, so he answered and said, "Hi, can you hold on for a minute?" He turned to Sheldon and said, "I think this is great, Sheldon. You've done a great job getting to this point, and I think you may figure it out."

"I'm going to my room, I have to take this call," said Leonard. "Again, you did a great job Sheldon."

Leonard turned and started up the hallway, "Yes, what's up?" Sheldon turned to look at the white boards and the equations.

 _Of course I did a great job_ , thought Sheldon. He realized that what he was trying to do, wouldn't be string theory, but it would fit in the framework of Quantum Field Theory. He thought it ironic that for as long as he'd been working on String Theory, what he was now trying to do, wasn't String Theory. The QED and QCD equations used slightly different actions within Quantum Field Theory, but they used the same rules.

Only gravity, so far, had resisted fitting into Quantum Field Theory, but if this worked, QGD, would also use a slightly different action, but the same rules, bringing all forces under Quantum Field Theory, with no need for String theory. Sheldon was looking at the equations and they were starting to make sense. The equations and rules began an orderly transition into QGD, in his mind. The equations were close, the rules the same, and this brought a smile to Sheldon's face.

 **Apt 314, 7:00 PM Saturday December 8th 2012.**

Penny had just finished putting her dishes away, after fixing herself dinner. It had been a bad day for her. Jeanie was gone, to the wedding, and Penny had spent the first part of the day working on her script. She finished around noon, and after a light lunch, she was at a loss as to what to do. She missed Leonard terribly, but she couldn't call him, her actions had made that impossible. She had made the decision to break up with him, because she didn't want to hurt him. But, she knew she had hurt him with that decision, and the pain it caused, weighed heavily on her. And, it had caused her pain, deserved she felt. She had tried calling Bernadette, but Howard had told her she had gone out with Amy. Something about Sheldon being an ass and Amy needing someone to go out with.

Now, she knew, she couldn't call Amy either, and that drove home just how isolated she was, here in New York. Amy needed help, and Bernadette was there for her. She assumed Amy would be there for Bernadette. And, if not each other, Amy had Sheldon, and Bernadette had Howard. Penny, today, had no one, and she knew it was entirely her fault, because of her decisions, and those thoughts had brought her to tears.

And now, Jeanie, her only friend here in New York, wasn't around. Because of this, she was feeling lonely and depressed about everything, and just sat watching television through her tears, falling deeper and deeper into those feelings. Around 6 PM, she had started dinner and now her only thought was to try and drink enough, so she wouldn't think about the things that were making her feel bad. So, she opened her first bottle of wine, and poured a glass, which she quickly drank. She began reaching for the bottle to pour her second glass.

 **Apt Building Lobby, 8:00 PM Saturday December 8th 2012.**

Jeanie pushed the call button and the elevator opened. She entered and pushed the sixth floor button, but then wondered if she should stop and check on Penny. After a few seconds of thought, she decided to trust her, she said she'd be all right. Besides, Jeanie was tired from the long day, and feeling more than a little drunk, from all the drinks she had at the wedding. So, she decided to just go to her apartment, and get to bed. She'd stop by tomorrow and see Penny.


	69. Chapter 68

**A/N. Not much to say. I made a small error in some future chapters, and had to do a rewrite on three of them. Turned out it wasn't a big deal, and didn't have any effect on this chapter. This chapter, like last week, is a couple of hours early. Hope you don't mind. On to the chapter.**

 **Chapter 68**

 **Apt 314, 10:30 AM Sunday December 9th 2012.**

Jeanie knocked on Penny's door and waited. She figured it would take a half a minute or so for Penny to get to the door. But, it had been almost two minutes and she hadn't heard anything. She knocked again, louder, and was rewarded with an angry, "I'm coming, I'm coming, quit knocking," and a few seconds later she heard the locks open, and then the door, with Penny standing there. Jeanie thought she looked rather rough.

"Come on in," said Penny sounding tired. She walked back to the table, and sat down, as Jeanie followed her in. Jeanie could see the two empty bottles of wine on the coffee table, and along with Penny's appearance, it was easy to see that Penny had been drinking again last night.

 _Dammit, I should have stopped here last night_ , thought Jeanie. She could feel her anger at Penny rising, but realizing that being angry would just make Penny angry, she took several deep breaths to calm down, then asked, "Can I get a cup of coffee?"

Penny pointed to the coffee pot, and Jeanie went and got a mug from the cupboard, poured herself a cup and brought it to the table, and sat down. She was still upset, and was not going to really push Penny on this one. She needed to talk to Leonard.

"So, on Friday, you said you were doing fine," said Jeanie, "what happened to get you drinking again?"

"I was lonely," said Penny. "I tried to call one of my girlfriends out in California, and she was out with another of my friends. They have each other now, and if not, they both have a boyfriend or husband to talk to. Then I realized I broke up my boyfriend, and didn't have anyone, got depressed and started drinking."

"You have me," said Jeanie.

"Yeah, but not all the time," said Penny, "and when you're not here, like yesterday, I don't have anyone. Besides, you have a life and I can't and don't expect you to babysit me all the time."

This was just the opening Jeanie was looking for, "So call Leonard and talk to him," said Jeanie. "Explain to him what happened, ask him to forgive you. I'm sure he would."

"You still don't understand," groaned Penny in frustration.

"Understand what?"

"I broke up with him, so I wouldn't hurt him again, the way I've hurt him before. I've done it before Leoanrd, I did it here with Leonard, and I'll more than likely do it again in the future."

"How do you know that," asked Jeanie.

"It's what I do," said Penny, sounding bitter. Hell, it's what I've done since high school. I hurt the good guys and I let the bad guys hurt me. It's my pattern and I just don't want to hurt Leonard anymore. Besides, he has a PhD, why would he even want to be with a stupid slut like me? He doesn't deserve it."

"Dammit Penny," said Jeanie, getting angry, "you are not a slut, do not call yourself that. You were drunk, maybe more than drunk, so you weren't able to make a decision and give consent. You need to tell him that, let him decide."

"No, no, no," said Penny, "it's already done, so why try to go back and cause him even more pain? I don't want to do that to him."

"So, you don't want to hurt him," said Jeanie. She stared straight at Penny and asked, "Do you still love him?"

"Well, yes…no…wait, I obviously don't," said Penny, "aw hell, I'm so confused I don't know."

"What are you confused about?"

"It's…it's, look," said Penny, "if I loved him, I wouldn't treat him as bad as I have, would I?"

"And if you didn't love him," said Jeanie, "you wouldn't be so worried about hurting him, now would you?"

Penny didn't know what to say.

"Well, don't you think he loves you?"

"He did," said Penny, "but, I don't know why. Although, I've probably destroyed that love now."

"Then don't you think you should give him a chance to decide what he wants to do?" said Jeanie. "You may not feel like you should be given another chance, but don't you think that should be his decision?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe, hell," said Jeanie, "he deserves it, and you know it. You call him, and arrange to go home over Christmas, and talk to him."

"I'll think about it," said Penny. "I have to figure some things out, before I make a decision and call him."

"No, dammit," said Jeanie, "there's nothing to figure out. You need to arrange to go home, and talk to him face to face. Do it over Christmas, it's only fair to him."

"I…I…I just don't know," said Penny, burying her face in her hands.

"Penny, you really need…"

"Jeanie, listen," said Penny, looking up and sounding frustrated, "I said I would think about it."

"No, you listen," said Jeanie. "You have to go home and talk to him. Then if you still want to break up with him, you do it in person, like he deserves. Not through some damn letter."

"No, dammit," said Penny, sounding angry, "I know he deserved better than breaking with him in a letter, but I told you I'd think about it, that's more than I've done before, so why don't you just leave it there. If you want to keep pushing me on this, just get the hell out."

Jeanie had nothing else, and she knew she couldn't push Penny any farther. She looked at Penny and said, "OK, I'll leave it there for now, but I'm going to ask you every couple of days until you call or tell me to stick it up my ass."

Penny looked surprised, then gave her a weak smile, "OK, I will."

Jeanie smiled, she had gotten Penny angry, but she had gotten her to at least think about going home for Christmas. And had managed to break the tension. Jeannie nodded, "Why don't you get a shower, I'll run up and get my script, and we can work on some things this afternoon?"

Penny nodded, got up and headed for her bathroom, while Jeanie went to her apartment for her script.

 **Apt 4A, 1:30 PM Sunday December 9th 2012.**

Leonard was taking a break for lunch. He had spent all morning trying to get the final boxes of his memorabilia packed, and had just finished a few more. Looking around, he decided that he had two of his current sized boxes, or possibly one bigger box left to pack. He went to the fridge, pulled out a box of leftover Thai food and put it in the microwave, and started heating it for lunch. He was happy with the progress he had made, helped, no doubt, by the absence of Sheldon. Amy had put her foot down, and demanded that Sheldon accompany her to a basket weaving class, since she'd been going everywhere he had wanted to go, and she had extracted a promise from him, that he would go with her.

Thinking of Sheldon, he realized he would have to tell him he was leaving in the next couple of days, as the 19th was just over a week away. Geoff had arranged his flights from LA to London, and Leonard had made some changes, to make a couple of stops, on the way to New York. How to tell Sheldon was still a problem, without a solution, currently. Leonard knew what the roommate agreement said, but since he was leaving he wasn't really worried about it. He was, however, worried about Sheldon's reaction, and what would happen after he left. Leonard didn't want to leave Sheldon with no way to get around, and Sheldon needed someone here. He realized he would have to keep thinking about that.

This made him think about the rest of his friends. _It wasn't going to be any easier telling Howard and Raj, and to a lesser extent Amy and Bernadette. I've been close to Howard since we met. With Raj, it's been awkward since that night I found out Priya was leaving. While the thing with Penny was part of it, Raj not telling me about Priya leaving to go back to India, is what pissed me off the most._

 _I just don't know how to tell all of them I'll be leaving. It's going to be difficult, and they'll probably try to talk me out of it. Leaving Cal Tech isn't going to be much easier, I'm going to miss the people and friends there._ He had tried not to think about it all, because it just made him feel worse about everything, and he already felt bad enough. _I guess that's why I think about Oxford, it's new and makes me excited to be going there. But, when I think about leaving the university and my friends, it just makes feel down about the whole thing._

He heard the "ding" of the microwave and went to get the container. He took out the container and opened it, eating straight from the carton, while he thought about his last call with Geoff. They had gone through all the paperwork that Leonard was going to need, once he arrived, some of which he would have to get here, in Pasadena. His passport, obviously, plus all the paperwork he would need to apply for his work visa. Geoff told him he would have to fill out his application at the airport, and he also gave him some information, from Oxford, he would need.

Geoff had also mentioned he had arranged for the movers to pick up Leoanrd's books, papers, clothes and other things. Leonard's rooms at Oxford, he was told, would have all the furniture he would need, so he planned on selling most of his furniture, and giving away anything else he didn't need. Except for his clothes, and a few other things, everything else would have to be packed up, so it could be taken to England.

His computer and his gaming system were both dual voltage. He was planning on taking his computer with him, and shipping the gaming system. Besides, he would need a new television to pick up the European systems, but he would get that in England. They would be coming, in a week, to pick up his things. He also reminded himself that Geoff was sending him a new phone, one that would work in Europe. He couldn't think of anything else, so he looked at the bookshelf. He was surprised that Sheldon hadn't commented on everything that was missing. As a matter of fact, he was thankful Sheldon hadn't been in his room, as the missing items were more obvious.

Leonard finished eating and threw out the container. He washed his fork, then started back to his bedroom, to begin going through the papers he was having shipped. Preparing everything else to be packed away, so they could be loaded into the crates when they picked up his things on Friday.

 **Wolowitz Apt 8:30 PM Sunday December 9th 2012.**

Raj knocked on the door and waited, he hadn't seen Howard for a few days. He'd been working on something and had missed lunch all week. With Leonard missing lunch too, it was a shame about Penny breaking up with him, all Raj had was Sheldon and it had been driving him nuts.

The door opened and Bernadette said, "Hi Raj, what's up?"

"Is Howard here?" Asked Raj.

"He is, but he's busy," answered Bernadette. "Do you want to come in?"

"Yeah, OK, sure," said Raj. He walked in and Bernadette closed the door and followed him to the couch where they both sat down. "He's been busy at work too," said Raj, "what's he got, some big new project?"

Bernadette shook her head, "Kind of, but I'd better let him tell you." She rose and went into the bedroom. Raj heard some talking, then Howard came walking in.

"Hey buddy," said Howard, "what are you doing here? Run out of chick flicks to watch?"

Raj rolled his eyes, "No, I came to see you. You haven't been at lunch the last week, and except for a brief "hi" in the hallway, I haven't seen you. What's going on?"

Howard looked at Bernadette with a slight grin, then back at Raj. "I really didn't want to tell anyone yet, because all the details haven't been worked out, but I've been getting things set up, to get my PhD in engineering."

"What? Oh my God, dude," said Raj, jumping up and hugging Howard, "That's great. Is it in astronautical engineering?"

Howard disengaged himself from the hug, "Well, kinda, but no, I'm going to borrow a few of the things I worked with, on the space station, as my project…"

"Not the space toilet…"

"No, not the space toilet," Howard sighed. "I'm going to use how the computers control the A/C, heating, window covers, lighting, power, those kinds of things. I'm going to use a dedicated server, with voice commands, to set up control on a house or apartment."

"Oh, wow, that's really cool."

"Yeah, but I have classes to take, I have to work out when I'll work, when I have to take off for classes, and how I'll make up that time. Then study, and work on the project and thesis. It's going to keep me rather busy for the next few years."

"I get it," said Raj, "you've got to work to get the doctorate. We'll just have to cut back on our time together."

"That's just it Raj," said Howard, looking uncomfortable, "with all this extra work, I don't think there will be much time for us to get together."

"Sure there will," said Raj, "after your classes at night, or after you finished work, we can do it then."

"Ahhhh, I'm sorry buddy," said Howard, sounding embarrassed, "but, most of that time will go to Bernadette."

A look of comprehension came over Raj's face, along with sadness, "I see, I guess you won't have any time for me. I'll be going." He stood and started walking toward the door.

"Raj, wait," said Howard, "I'm sure we can find some time." He looked over at Bernadette who nodded, "and I'm sure there will be times when Bernie will be happy for me to come and see you."

"When?"

"How about tomorrow night?" said Howard. "Most of my stuff that's due Tuesday is done, so you can come over tomorrow and we can play some video games, how's that?"

Raj looked happier, "OK, I'll see you tomorrow night then." He went to the door turned and said, "Goodnight."

Howard and Bernadette both said "Goodnight," and Raj left, closing the door behind him.

 **Studio 44 2:30 PM Monday December 10th 2012.**

Penny was sitting in her director's chair, waiting for Jeanie to finish her scenes. Jeanie had insisted on taking Penny to her dressing room, anytime they were both in the studio. Penny didn't mind, as Brent hadn't approached her, off of the set, since Jeanie started staying with her in the studio. Up until today, Steve had been happy with her and Brent's scenes. But, she had made several mistakes today, and Steve had pointed them out, causing her to snap at him.

Penny felt bad about it, as Steve didn't how much extra effort it took for her to work with Brent. Nor, did Steve know she had been wrestling with a personal decision, which had her upset. Steve had tried to calm her down, asking if there was anything bothering her. She told him there was, but it didn't have to do with work, and she apologized for snapping at him. He brushed it off and they finished the scene.

Jeanie came walking up, "You ready to go?"

"Yep, let me get some things from my dressing room, then we can go."

"Have you thought about going home for Christmas?"

Actually, she had, that was the personal decision Penny had been thinking about, since Jeanie brought it up the day before. Looking at Jeanie, Penny said, "Yes, I have, and I'll be calling Leonard later this week, to see if he's willing to talk to me when I go out there, after I treated him so badly. If he even takes my call."

Jeanie smiled, "That's great Penny, I'm glad, and I'm sure he'll take your call. Let's get our stuff and go home."

 **Wolowitz Apt 7:30 PM Monday December 10th 2012.**

Bernadette was reading several reports of her current experiments, when she heard a knock on the door. She moved her footstool to the door, so she could look out of the peephole. When she looked, she saw Raj, so she moved her footstool back and opened the door.

"Hi Raj," said Bernadette, "what are you doing here?"

"Howard told me yesterday, to come over tonight," said Raj. "We haven't had any time together lately and he said we were going to play some video games."

"Oh yeah," said Bernadette, "I remember that from yesterday." She looked sad, "I'm sorry Raj, he's not here. One of his advisors had talked to him, and wanted more information about the computer software he planned on using. So he had to make some changes to the stuff he has to turn in tomorrow, he's at the library right now."

"Oh, I see," said Raj looking disappointed. "Yeah, he needs to work on that. I'll just go on home."

"I'd ask you to stay," said Bernadette, "but I'm doing some work and wouldn't be much fun, I'm afraid."

"No, that's OK," said Raj, "I'll just head on home. You have a good evening, and tell Howard its OK, I understand."

Thank you Raj, Good night," said Bernadette.

"Good night Bernadette," said Raj, looking sad as he turned to walk off. Bernadette closed the door, wondering why she felt so bad.

 **Apt 4A 1:30 PM Tuesday December 11th 2012.**

Leonard had gone into work, and had taken Sheldon with him, but he had left around 11 AM. All he had done today was to talk to his four students for the last time, and write up his impressions of their work for their advisors to pass along to who ever was taking Leonard's place.

Getting back to the apartment just after noon, he started clearing off the bookshelves in the living room of all of his collectibles. He would be wrapping them, and putting them in the two boxes, to take to Stuarts later. Tonight, with all the empty space on the book shelves, he would have to tell Sheldon he would be leaving. But, he still hadn't thought of a good way to work into it.

He had put the first group of his collectibles on the coffee table. They were handy there as he had the box on his chair, and the paper to wrap them on Sheldon's spot on the couch. He started wrapping the first one, when he was surprised by the door opening, and Sheldon walking in. Forgetting what he was doing, he said, "What are you doing home?"

"Amy dropped me off," said Sheldon. "When you told me I needed to get her to drive me home, I called her and she told me she had a doctor's appointment, so if I wanted a ride home, we would have to leave by 1 PM, so she wouldn't be late for her appointment…"

Sheldon stopped and looked at the bookshelves and the collectibles on the couch, "Leonard," he said, "why are you wrapping all your collectibles and putting them in a box?"


	70. Chapter 69

**A/N Isn't much to tell you here, just some things building toward the end. Also, I want to thank my Canadian reader (and possibly another) who discovered my various stories this past week. You have single-handedly (we'll there might be two) put Canada as number one t, so far, for views of my stories this month.**

 **Chapter 69**

 **Apt 4A, 1:30 PM Tuesday December 11th 2012.**

"Er…ah…um…what?" asked Leonard.

"Why are you packing up all of your figurines?"

Leonard thought quickly, "I…er…I'm taking them down to clean them."

"I thought that at first too," said Sheldon. "But, some things that have been down for a few days…"

 _Damn, he noticed._

"…haven't been put back up. And, if you were cleaning them, those would be back up, and you wouldn't be wrapping these up. So, why are you packing your figurines away?"

 _I might as well tell him what I'm doing with them,_ "I'm taking them to Stuart's, to sell," said Leonard.

"But, why?" asked Sheldon. "If you need money, you can always sell blood, or semen, like we've done before. If you don't want to do that, I can lend you the money."

"It's not the money, Sheldon," said Leonard.

"Then what is it?" Asked Sheldon.

"I'm getting rid of all of my collectibles," said Leonard. "I've picked out some for you, Howard and Raj, and I'm selling the rest."

"But, you haven't told me why," said Sheldon. "Is this another thing like when you wanted to get rid of everything, after you bought the time machine, and Penny…this has something to do with Penny, doesn't it?"

 _Dammit, he caught that. Well, I would have to tell him tomorrow, so I might as well do it now._ Leonard sighed,"Sheldon, sit down, I have to tell you something."

"Where should I sit, Leonard?" asked Sheldon. "You have all that paper in my spot."

Leonard rolled his eyes, then moved the paper. He also moved the box from his chair and they both sat down. He was looking at Sheldon, trying to figure out how to start. He decided to start with a different direction. "Sheldon, it does have something to do with Penny. You know how upset I've been, because Penny broke up with me, right?"

"Yes, I've seen you upset," said Sheldon, "and you've been listening to all those breakup songs, by that band Coldbay, or something like that, but that's your own fault. If you wouldn't have invited that woman to lunch five years ago, or thought it was a good idea to get back together with her, none of this would have happened."

"Yeah, well, I understand that," said Leonard, the feeling of getting kicked in the gut returning, "but, please listen to me…"

"Why would I listen to you…"

"Sheldon!" yelled Leonard. "Just listen, so you understand why I'm packing up my figurines."

Sheldon had jumped when Leonard yelled, and was now looking at Leonard strangely and nodded.

Leonard took a deep breath and said, "I will be leaving CalTech in a week."

"To go where?"

"I'll be working at a different university" said Leonard, "starting with the January semester."

"Where? UCLA?" said Sheldon. "Or are you going to the University of Southern California, and will you be working from your computer here? But, if you're doing that, why do you have to sell your things?"

"No," said Leonard, "I'll be moving to England, to Oxford."

"Oh, you can't do that," said Sheldon, matter of factly, "you have to give 30-days-notice, according to the Roommate Agreement."

"I don't know what to tell you, Sheldon," said Leonard, shrugging. "But, I have to be at Oxford on the 26th, and I have a couple of stops to make before I get there, so I'm leaving on the 19th, which is a week from tomorrow."

"No, that is unacceptable," said Sheldon, standing. "You can't go, I won't let you."

"You can't stop me."

"You can't leave, and leave me here alone," said Sheldon, sounding panicked. "Who's going to drive me to work? Who's going to take me to get sheets or towels? Who's going to get food? Who is going to do all those things you do for me? Who is going to be my best friend? I tell you, you cannot go. You can't abandon me, I won't stand for it."

Sheldon turned and walked to his room, entered and slammed the door behind him.

Leonard sighed, he knew it was going to be difficult for Sheldon to accept, but he was leaving, and he wouldn't let Sheldon stand in his way. There was a knock on the door, and Leonard answered it. It was FedEx, with a small package. Leonard took it, thanked the driver and took it to his room. He was expecting this, and he would have to stop by the Verizon store tomorrow.

 **Studio 44, 10:30 PM Tuesday December 11th 2012.**

Penny had everything packed up, and was just waiting for Jeanie. The taping had gone well, she had gotten the next script, the last one before Christmas break, and was reading it, while waiting for Jeanie. There was a knock on her door, and she opened it, to see Jeanie there. Penny grabbed her pack, her purse, and then left her dressing room. She closed and locked her door, before walking with Jeanie, out of the studio.

As they got to Jake's, Jeanie asked, "Are you coming in tonight?"

"I don't think so," said Penny,

"Are you going home to call Leonard about going home for Christmas?" asked Jeanie.

"No, that has nothing to do with it," said Penny. "It's just I'm not interested in sitting at a table with Brent."

"He won't be sitting with us, you'll see, come on," said Jeanie. "We'll limit it to one glass of wine, how's that?"

Jeanie led Penny into the bar, to the bar, where they ordered their drinks. They each got a glass of wine and as they started back to the table, Brent walked in.

Jeanie handed her glass to Penny, "Here, take this to the table, I'll be right there."

Penny took the glass from Jeanie and walked to the rear of the bar, to their usual table. As Penny sat down, she saw Jeanie talking to Brent. He was shaking his head no. Jeanie said something else to him, and it looked like he became absolutely livid. He gave Jeanie the finger, then turned and left the bar.

Jeanie came back to the table, sitting next to Penny. Penny looked at Jeanie and said, "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing much, I persuaded him not to come back to the table," said Jeanie.

"How the hell did you do that?" asked Penny. "I saw his reaction."

"Let's just say that's my secret for now, and has to do with some information I got this week," said Jeanie with a smirk. "Enjoy your ONE drink, tonight." With that, Jeanie turned to talk to Tina, leaving Penny wondering what exactly Jeanie had said to Brent.

 **Apt 4A, 7:45 PM Tuesday December 11th 2012.**

Leonard had been working on his figurines since Sheldon ran into his bedroom. He had taken a break around six, and had eaten some leftover pizza. He was back to wrapping his things by 6:30. He now took the last box back to his room, came back out to watch some TV, and had just sat down, when the door opened, and Amy walked in.

"Oh, hi, Amy, I didn't know you had a key," said Leonard, as he stood.

"Yeah, Sheldon was worried that if he had some sort of problem, when you weren't here, no one would be able to get in to help him," said Amy.

"What sort of problem?"

"Well, he said something about having the flu," said Amy, "and he would be in bed and unable to get food or unlock the door so someone could get him food, so he insisted I take a key and then forced me to sign a Key Agreement."

"When did this happen?"

"Back when you and Penny went to New York," said Amy, "and then on your vacations."

Amy saw Leonard's face go white, as he appeared to fall back into his chair. Tears appeared in his eyes.

Thinking about what Sheldon had told her about Leonard leaving, she took a guess, "I'm sorry Leonard. Is Penny the reason you're leaving here?"

When he spoke, she could hear him choking up. "How do you know about that?"

"Sheldon told me you were leaving," said Amy, "he's upset, and asked me to come over."

Leonard gathered himself, and sighed, "Yeah, I told him this afternoon, he caught me wrapping up all my collectibles."

"But, why Leonard?" asked Amy.

"I can't stay here Amy," said Leonard sadly, "there are too many memories here. I walk out my door, there's her apartment. I go to work, I see The Cheesecake Factory, but if I try to avoid it, I'm thinking about it, and, of course, her. I saw the decorations going up for Christmas, and thought of how she got me to enjoy Christmas." He paused for a second, then continued, again choking up, "There are other things, other places…I just can't be around here anymore."

Amy looked at Leonard with pity. From her brief talks with him, she understood the breakup, and the time leading up to it, had crushed him. And, it now appeared, he couldn't take the memories anymore, and was taking action to remove himself from those memories. While she was a neurobiologist, she had some knowledge of psychology, and understood some of what was driving Leonard. Still, she had to try, "Are you sure this is what you want to do? You'll be leaving all your friends, heading off to somewhere you've never been. Somewhere that has no friends that can help you. If you stay, we can help."

Leonard sadly shook his head, "I don't think so. You can't help get rid of that feeling in the pit of my stomach, whenever something reminds me of her, and what if none of you are available? At least in England, there won't be anything to remind me of her. And, they are very short of people there, which means I'll have a lot of work, to keep me busy. I don't see any other way."

"I understand Leonard," said Amy, "if that's what you need to do, you need to do it. But, if you need to talk about anything, let me know. Sheldon isn't the best at talking through your problems."

A small smile formed, "Yeah, he's not the greatest at that. But every so often, he does have some insight. Thanks, Amy."

"You're welcome, Leonard," said Amy. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I have my boyfriend to console, something about him designing a tractor beam to keep his roommate from leaving." She rose and turned to leave.

"Amy, hold on," said Leonard.

She stopped and turned back to Leonard, "Yes?"

"I am concerned about Sheldon, after I leave," said Leonard. "There won't be anyone to drive him around…"

"I can do that," said Amy. "You ask me to do it every now and then, now."

"Yes," said Leonard, "but that is an inconvenience to you. You have to leave early, or get home late when you take him. I want to run something by you."

"OK, what?"

"I want to recommend to Sheldon," started Leonard, "that you move into my room…"

"Shut your ass," said Amy excitedly.

Leonard grinned, "Yes, I do. You'll be here, you're compatible with him, you don't mind his quirks, I just think it's best for him, and I believe you're willing."

Amy had a grin on her face, "Yes, I'm willing. Do you want me to tell him, or do you want to do it?"

"I think we should wait until he brings it up," said Leonard. "Not just me leaving, but about having no one to help him. If he's worried about it, then he may be more accepting of the idea. If he brings it up, you suggested it, I'll support you when I see him. If I end up suggesting it, you support it, when you see him. But, make sure he's the one that first brings it up."

Amy nodded, "Thank you, Leonard, for thinking of him, and for thinking of me."

"One last thing," said Leonard, "can you take him in all week, starting tomorrow morning? I have some things I have to do here and in town, and I'm pretty much finished doing anything at work."

"Yes, I can do that," said Amy. "Will I need to bring him home also?"

"Yeah, you'll have to do that, too" said Leonard. "And, one other thing, can you hold off on telling Bernadette, and let Howard do it? Let Sheldon tell the guys, he'll probably try to think of a way he can enlist Howard and Raj to help him get me to stay. It won't work, but it will make him feel better."

Amy nodded.

"Now, you better go talk to him," said Leonard, "and calm him down, if you can."

Amy looked at Leonard, "I'm sorry this happened Leonard, like I said, if you need to talk, just ask me." Amy got up and walked toward the hallway. Leonard turned and clicked the remote to turn the TV on.

 **Apt 314, 1:45 AM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Penny had gotten home from Jake's with Jeanie, who had gone up to her apartment. Entering hers, Penny hung up her coat, and put her things on the kitchen table. She decided to have one more glass of wine, _only one more tonight_ , she reminded herself. Pouring a glass, she took it to her couch and turned on the TV. Sitting there, she thought about Jeanie asking if she had called Leonard. _Should I call Leonard tonight? No, it's late, he's probaby in bed. I'll call him tomorrow afternoon, after the table read._

She took a drink of her wine, and started flipping through the channels. She didn't really find anything to watch, and after looking at all the channels, and realizing she had finished her wine, she decided to go to bed. She turned off her lights, and walked toward the bathroom, to start preparing for bed.

 **Amy's car, 8:00 AM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Amy was driving Sheldon to work, as Leonard had asked. Sheldon was very quiet, something Amy noted, and knew indicated he was not happy. He had been so upset, the previous night, he didn't even think of calling Raj or Howard. But, she had called them, telling them to be in the cafeteria at 11:30 AM, as she and Sheldon had something to tell them. When they each tried to ask questions, Amy cut them off, telling them they would find out the next morning.

"Sheldon," she said, "don't you think you should tell Howard and Raj what you found out last night?"

"No, I don't," said Sheldon. "It's not my job, it's Leonard's. After all, he's the one that's leaving."

"Yes, but you are going to see them first," said Amy. "You could tell them at lunch today."

"No, I will not Amy." said Sheldon, "This topic is closed."

Amy sighed, he was still upset by the whole thing. She thought of another way, she might get him to tell them. Amy smiled inwardly. _I'll get him to tell them, when we see them at lunch._

 **Pasadena Verizon Store, 9:00 AM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Leonard was at the store, right as they opened, and so he got the first available clerk. He explained he was moving to the UK, and his phone from there arrived yesterday and he needed to disconnect his current number and close his account. Geoff had gotten him a plan that would give him an hour of time here in the US, which would be enough for the week he had left. He could call the UK at anytime, without charge, since he now had a UK number. Leonard pulled out his credit card, and paid off his account, closing it.

He left the store, and drove to the university thinking about what he had left to finish. After today, he would have a few final things, like turning in his key, his badge, and several last pieces of paperwork. Those would be done in Gablehauser's office, and then HR, on Friday. Arriving at his lab, he started his final packing. It would only take about an hour and would be the last thing he did in his lab. When he finished, he tried to call Howard, but the university communications department had already disconnected his line and voicemail. So, he left the two boxes and started towards Howards office.

 **Apt 314, 2:30 PM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Penny had left the studio alone, Jeanie had some sort of weird costume she had to wear for a scene at a New Year's party, and she was at the costume shop. It had made Penny think of the New Year's Eve party at the comic book store, and it made her feel bad, thinking about Leonard. Arriving home, Penny put her things on the kitchen table, took off her coat and started making a light lunch. Her and Jeanie were planning on going out for dinner, before working on their scripts, so she didn't want to eat too much. After eating, she put her dishes in the sink, and did a quick read through. When she finished, she decided, that even though she was nervous about talking to Leonard, she at least needed to tell him she would be home for Christmas and she really needed to talk to him.

Nervously, she pulled out her phone, selected his name and selected call. She listened, waiting for the ring, but what she heard was a high-pitched tone, followed by " **The number you have reached is no longer in service.** **Please check the number and dial again. Message 402"**

She disconnected, selected his name again and pushed call. She waited, but again heard the same message. Puzzled now, she looked up the number and dialed it manually, but again, she got the message saying the number was no long in service. She looked up his work phone, selected that and waited. She heard a rapid busy signal, hung up, tried again, and got the same result. Now, completely puzzled, she tried calling the apartment, but when it went to voicemail, she hung up. Penny looked at her phone, wondering what the hell was going on.


	71. Chapter 70

**A/N This is officially the longest chapter so far, (by about 100 words). It has to do with how long the different sections are, within the chapters. if I moved something out of this chapter, then one of the upcoming chapters would be the longest. Bernie is trying her best here, but will it be enough?**

 **Chapter 70**

 **CalTech cafeteria, 11:30 AM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Sheldon and Amy found a table, and sat down with their food. Howard and Raj were several people behind them in the line, and would be there shortly. Amy was still trying to get Sheldon to tell them what Leonard had planned, but he refused, saying it was up to Leonard. Howard and Raj arrived at the table, set their trays down, and then sat down themselves. Raj took out his bottle of cough syrup, and took a swig. They both then looked at Sheldon and Amy, with quizzical looks on their faces. Howard said, "So, what's going on, that you needed to tell us to be here?"

Sheldon looked at Amy, "Really Amy? You called them? After I told you I wouldn't say anything?"

Amy sighed, since Sheldon wasn't going to tell them anything, it seemed it was up to her to tell them, but she didn't have all the information yet. "Yes, I told them we had something to tell them," said Amy, in a frustrated voice.

"Fine," said Sheldon angrily. He looked back at Howard and Raj and said, "Last night, Leonard told us that he will be leaving Cal Tech, to go to work at another university."

Raj and Howard looked at Sheldon, with their mouth's hanging open. Howard, surprise in his voice, asked, "When did he decide this, and where is he going."

"Leonard is leaving?" said Raj, sounding just as surprised as Howard. "Why?"

Amy looked at Sheldon, hoping he would continue. But now, he simply shook his head, so Amy continued, "Leonard made the decision last week to ask for a sabbatical from CalTech, and is leaving to go to Oxford."

"Why is he..." said Howard, then his mind caught up, "never mind, I'm not thinking, this has to do with Penny, right?"

"I think you know the answer to that, Howard," said Amy.

"Well, I don't know why," said Raj, "but, I haven't heard all the latest news, since I don't see Howard much anymore. So, this is because of Penny breaking up with him?"

Howard and Amy looked at each other, then back at Raj and nodded.

"Yes, he says he's leaving," interjected Sheldon, "but he's not following the roommate agreement. So, I am asking you both to help me prevent him from leaving, so he lives up to the Roommate agreement."

"Sheldon," said Howard, "I think his problems with Penny are more important than your worries about the roommate agreement."

"As usual, due to your limited education, you simply don't understand," said Sheldon, crossing his arms, and sounding petulant. "I won't have anyone there to drive me to work, or take me around when I have to go somewhere, or any of the other things that he has to do because of the roommate agreement. Who's going to be doing all that for me? I tell you I'll keep him here, and you two will help me."

Amy decided this was the perfect time and she said, "Sheldon, I could move in, and do all that for you."

Sheldon looked at her angrily, and stood. "No, Amy," he said, "I am not prepared for something like that. Here's what's going to happen, he's not moving out, you're not moving in. Everything is going to stay as it is."

With that, Sheldon walked away, and out of the cafeteria. Howard and Raj just looked at him and shook their heads.

"When is he leaving, Amy?" asked Howard.

"I talked to him before I left their apartment last night, and from what he told me," said Amy, "he's leaving next week."

Howard was in disbelief, "Next week? He can't get everything finished that fast."

"He has to be there just after Christmas," said Amy, "to get signed in, get his rooms, the visa application, and several other things. He also said he's going to be making some stops on the way. Evidently he's been working on this for a couple of weeks, without telling us."

"If you'll excuse me," said Howard rising. "I have to call my wife, and let her know what's going on. Then I'll call Leonard."

He started walking away, when Amy called to him, "Howard, wait."

Howard turned, "Yes?"

"You won't be able to call him on his cell," said Amy. "He told me last night, he got a phone from Europe and he's getting rid of his old phone, and canceling his service and number here, today. If you want him, you'll have to call his office or the apartment, until he gives you his new number."

Howard nodded and started walking out of the cafeteria, going to the engineering lab.

As he did, Sheldon walked back in and right up to Howard, "Howard, you are going to help me keep him here, right?"

"No," said Howard, "I told you I have to call my wife, then I'll call Leonard. But, I'm not helping you. I may try to keep him from leaving, but not for the reasons you want." Howard walked out of the cafeteria.

Sheldon walked to the table and, ignoring Amy, said, "You're going to help me keep him here, right, Raj?"

Raj shook his head, and Sheldon snorted, turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

 **CalTech** , **Howard's office 12:30 PM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Howard got to his office, and closed the door. He selected his wife's work number, and pushed call. He heard the ringer, the connection, then, "This is Dr Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, how may I help you."

Without preamble, Howard said, "Boy have I got some big news."

Bernadette noticed the excited in Howard's voice, "Hi Howie, what's up?"

"I just talked to Amy and Sheldon," said Howard. He paused, sighed, and then said, "They told me that Leonard is leaving CalTech."

"What?" said Bernadette, sounding shocked. "When, and where is he going?"

"They said he's going to Oxford, and he's leaving next week."

Bernadette gasped, "Next week?"

"Yeah, that's what Amy said."

"I can't believe he did it," said Bernadette, in shock.

"You knew about this," said Howard, sounding surprised.

"No, no," said Bernadette, "I was talking to him a couple of weeks ago, I think. He mentioned quitting CalTech, and moving somewhere else to get away from the memories."

"Why didn't you tell him to talk to one of us, before doing something like that?" Demanded Howard.

"Howie," said Bernadette defensively, "I told him don't do anything stupid and talk to me if he felt that way." She added sadly, "But, he never talked to me."

"Don't feel bad Bernie," said Howard, "It's not your fault. I just can't believe he didn't say anything to me. I'm going to try to talk to him."

"OK, Howie," said Bernadette, "maybe I'll call him."

"You can't," said Howard, "he's got a new phone and a new number. You'd have to call his office phone, but he's not there right now. He'll be in later."

"OK, Howie, call me after you talk to him,"

"I will, Bernie," said Howard. "I love you, goodbye."

"I love you too," said Bernadette, "Goodbye"

They both disconnected.

 **Zangen, 4:45 PM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Bernadette was getting ready to leave work, she had packed her bag with her work. She was still thinking about the second call from Howard. He had tried to call his office, but wasn't getting through. He finally talked to Leonard when he went to his office and Leonard told him his office phone was disconnected. He had talked to Leonard about everything that had been happening, and then had tried to talk him out of leaving, without success. After leaving Leonard, Howard had called Bernie, and told her everything he now knew. Bernadette told him she was planning to go to Leonard's tonight and try her hand at talking him out of leaving.

It was near the end of the day, and she just had a couple more emails to answer. She started on the first one, when her phone rang. She picked it up and said, "Hello, this is Zangen, Dr Rostenkowski-Wolowitz speaking."

"Bernadette, this is Penny."

"Hi Penny," said Bernadette, thinking she heard sadness, in Penny's voice, "what's going on?"

"Nothing much," said Penny, trying to be nonchalant, "but, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"I tried to call Leonard earlier," said Penny, "and I got a message saying his phone had been disconnected, and his office number is busy all the time. Do you know what's going on? Is he having problems with his phone?"

Bernadette paused, she knew why his phones were disconnected, after talking with Howard, but she wasn't sure if Leonard wanted Penny to know. Bernadette thought about asking Penny why she was calling first, "Why were you calling him?"

"I had thought of something," said Penny, "and wanted to ask him about it. It's private, so don't ask."

So, Penny wasn't going to open up, again. This made Bernadette slightly angry, so she decided to just tell her. "Penny," she said, "Leonard had his phone disconnected because he's got a new phone. He is leaving Pasadena, and going to another college."

Bernadette could hear a gasp from the other end, "Why?"

Bernadette wasn't going to be easy on her, "He's crushed by the breakup and says there are too many memories for him here. His phone is disconnected because he has a new one, one that will work where he's going."

"What do you mean, where he's going," said Penny. "His phone should work anywhere."

"He's leaving and moving to England," said Bernadette. "He's going to teach and do research, at Oxford."

Bernadette heard another gasp and a sob, then a little girl voice said, "When?"

"He'll be leaving next Tuesday," said Bernadette.

Penny thought about it quickly, _I have a taping next Tuesday, and he'll be gone by the time I get home._ To Bernadette, she said, in a defeated voice, "Then there's no reason to call him."

"Why were you calling him?"

"It doesn't matter now," said Penny, "I'm struggling with some things. I thought I'd get away from here."

Bernadette could hear the distress in Penny's voice. _Maybe if I encourage her, she'll come home,_ "That's a great idea, Penny," said Bernadette. "Get away from there, maybe it can clear some things up for you."

"No, no," said Penny, her voice starting to crack, "I can't make it there before he leaves. Besides, if he has to leave there, because of the memories, then seeing me won't help."

"You could try Penny," said Bernadette pleadingly.

"No, if he has to do that, then I've hurt him too deeply to try to talk to him. I've caused some really bad problems, that I don't think I can't fix," said Penny in a teary voice. "I've screwed it up, it's my fault. I don't want to hurt him anymore, it's best if I just leave him alone."

"No, Penny, you should try," begged Bernadette.

"No, Bernadette," said Penny now openly sobbing, "it just doesn't matter. He'll be gone by the time I can get there."

Bernadette, still begging, said, "Then come home and see us. Let us try to help you through those things."

"No," said Penny, "I'm just a stupid idiot, who hurts people. I don't want to hurt you, and I'm done hurting him, it's not fair to him. Goodbye."

Before Bernadette could say anything else, she heard Penny disconnect. Bernadette stood there, holding her phone. She had to talk to Leonard, he needed to know. She quickly signed off of her computer, grabbed her purse, put on her coat, and left, heading to Leonard's apartment.

 **Apt 314, 8:00 PM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

After Penny hung up, she went straight to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of wine and opened it. She felt totally defeated and depressed, and needed some wine. She found a glass, filled it half way, and then took it to her table.

 _Leonard is leaving Pasadena, and it's all my fault,_ thought Penny. _Why wouldn't he leave? He's probably going crazy seeing places we went together, or just places or things that remind him of me. I destroyed Pasadena for him also. I understand, I break down every time I'm reminded of him._ _Penny you stupid, fucking, bitch. You've destroyed your relationship with him, and now he's not even going to be there to talk to if you went back. I destroyed the city for him, because I've destroyed his memories._

 _I'm sure my apartment reminds him of me every time he leaves his place._ Penny finished the first glass and walked over to the counter to pour another. She brought the bottle with her to the table, so she wouldn't have to get up every time. She took half the contents of the glass in one gulp.

 _My apartment?_ A new thought appeared. _Do I really need it anymore? If Leonard's not going to be there, why even go back? Oh, I'll go back to California when I need to, but I don't need to stay in Pasadena, it's too far from the studios, Burbank would be closer._ She gave a short ironic laugh, _I would have the same problem now also, too many memories in Pasadena._ _How would I even pack it up? I guess I can call a moving company tomorrow, and if they can do it, call Bernadette, or Amy. Yeah, Amy. Bernadette might not want to talk to me. Oh, and that box, I don't want that box._ She finished off the rest of the half-glass, and poured a full glass.

 **Apt 4A 6:00 PM Wednesday December 12th 2012.**

Bernadette was walking up the steps to apt 4A, trying to organize her thoughts, on what she was going to tell Leonard. Between Howard's call, telling her what Leonard had planned, and Penny's call to her, she needed to do something to get those two together.

She knocked on the door, and waited. Leonard opened it, and looked surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you," said Bernadette, "can I come in?"

Leonard opened the door and Bernadette entered. She walked over to the couch and sat in the middle seat. Leonard closed the door and walked back to his chair, and turned off the TV. "Do you want something to drink?" he asked.

"No thank you," said Bernadette.

"So what do we need to talk about?"

"I asked you to talk to me before doing anything silly," said Bernadette. "Why didn't you say anything before taking the job in England?"

"Precisely because of this," said Leonard, moving his index finger back and forth between them, "along with Howard earlier. I didn't want anyone to try and change my mind. I can't stay here Bernadette."

"Well, what about Penny?"

"What about her?" said Leonard. "She broke up with me and evidently has a new boyfriend. I don't think I need to include her in my plans."

"I think you do," said Bernadette. "I'm not so sure about her having a boyfriend."

"How would you know?" asked Leonard.

"I talked to her earlier today," said Bernadette, "she didn't know you were leaving. She said something about coming home for Christmas. Then said something about not coming home, because you were leaving."

"What does any of that have to do with her having a boyfriend?" asked Leonard.

"I think it means that she wants to talk to you."

Leonard though for a minute, he knew he tended to overthink things, but this? He shook his head and said, "I don't think that means anything."

"Dammit, Leonard," said Bernadette, sounding frustrated, "I told you before, you shouldn't have let her go alone. I told you she wasn't ready. You need to go get her, and bring her back here."

"Don't you think I wanted to?" asked Leonard, sounding frustrated. "I was ready to go, before Howard showed me that article."

"Then why didn't you go?"

"What was I supposed to do, rip her away from her new boyfriend?" said Leonard. "Besides, what happens if I bring her home? Huh? She has a contract, she has to perform. If I do that, she would never work again, and I can't do that to her."

"So, you don't do anything, and just forget about her forever, huh?" said Bernadette sarcastically.

"Look, either way, I'm going to feel guilty about it," said Leonard. "If I don't go get her, we stay broken up, and I feel guilty and unhappy, but I would have a chance at a new life. If I go get her, I feel guilty about ruining her chance at being a star."

"But, you would have Penny."

"Would I? She's got another boyfriend, remember?" said Leonard, "You were part of making that clear to me, remember?"

"I told you, I may have been wrong," said Bernadette, continuing in a pleading tone, "You need to go get her, get back with her, the hell with her career."

"No, no, no," said Leonard, his voice cracking, "I can't, I can't. All that would do would be to wreck her career. I would feel guilty about that, and she would resent me for doing that, not a good combination for a couple. She moved here from Nebraska, to fulfill her dream of being a star, I wasn't part of her dream."

Bernadette could see the tears in his eyes. Looking at him, she said softly, "You want her to succeed, don't you?"

"More than anything," said Leonard. "I want her to be happy, and to actually reach her dream of being a star. All I can do is to get in the way of that, now. So I have to let her go, so she can be happy."

"So you love her," said Bernadette.

"Of course I do," said Leonard, his voice rising.

"Yes," said Bernadette, "you do. You want her to be happy, even if it makes you miserable. I'm sorry Leonard." Bernadette looked at Leonard, with pity. She had come to his apartment, all fired up to tell Leonard what he should be doing. But, now, after talking to him, she realized that his love wouldn't let him destroy Penny's dreams, even if it destroyed his dream of being with her. Trying to get him to go get her, was useless, she now saw. All she could do was try to help him, in the little time he had before he left Pasadena.

"OK, Leonard," said Bernadette softly, "you do what you think is best. I'm sorry I can't be more of a help"

"You've been a great help," said Leonard. "I didn't take your advice, but I do know you're trying. We just don't see the problem in the same way. Do you have anything else?"

"No, I don't," said Bernadette, getting up "I should get home and get dinner started. Howard won't be home until 7:30, he's working with his advisor ."

She started walking to the door, with Leonard following. She opened the door, and Leonard, said, "Bernie?"

"Yes,?"

"You don't mind taking me to the airport next Tuesday, do you?" Leonard asked. "Howard said it was fine, but I want to know if you are OK with it. I don't want to put Amy through all that with Sheldon at the airport. I think it might be too much for Sheldon." Then he added softly, "It might be too much for me."

"Sure," said Bernadette looking at him sadly, knowing how much this was hurting him. "If I have anything, it will just have to be cleared off of my schedule. I'm sure Howard thought the same thing. We'll be there for you Leonard."

"Thanks," said Leonard, "I'll talk to you later, goodbye."

"Bye, Leonard," said Bernadette, walking out.

Leonard closed the door, and headed toward his bedroom, to do some packing.

 **Apt 314 8:30 AM Thursday December 13th 2012.**

Penny's alarm went off, and she reached over and shut it off. She slowly got up, glad she stopped at one bottle last night. She made her way to the kitchen, took two aspirins, and drank a full glass of water before putting on the coffee and then going to get ready. She was sitting, studying her script, when Jeanie arrived. She packed her bag, put on her coat and grabbed her purse, before leaving the apartment. Walking to the studio took them the usual 15 minutes, before going off to their dressing rooms.

They spent the morning doing their blocking. As usual, they got through the entire show, and were also able to work on some of the scenes, before the break for lunch. They would finish those this afternoon, then do a run through. Lunch was called at 1 PM, and Penny went to Craft Services and picked up a salad, which she took to her room, walking with Jeanie. Penny explained to Jeanie, she would eat as she made some phone calls. After getting Penny to her dressing room, Jeanie left, heading back to the Craft Services table. She smiled because Penny had had no problems with Brent, since Jeanie had been walking with her. After getting her lunch, Jeanie went back to her dressing room.

Penny ate her salad, then dialed the number she had looked up last night. She heard the ringing on the other end, then someone picked up and said, "North American Van Lines, how may I help you?"


	72. Chapter 71

**A/N I've actually started on something else this week. Outlining, jotting down ideas, etc. Probably won't get to the actual writing until after Christmas. But I am working on something. Hint-it's from the final season. As for this chapter, see the A/N at the end. I had to put it there, cause it would give away a couple of things.**

 **Chapter 71**

 **Apt 4A 9:30 AM Thursday December 13th 2012.**

Leonard had just finished his breakfast, and went back to his room. He looked at the four piles of things, one on his bed, the other three on the floor. On the bed, were his luggage, and a couple of things he would be taking with him on the plane. The largest pile on the floor were extra clothes, and personal items he wouldn't need until he arrived at Oxford. These would be packed tomorrow, by the movers. His bed and other furniture would also be taken, and put into storage, until Howard could sell it. He would go through the bookcases, packing those books that would also be shipped to Oxford. The other two piles were smaller. One contained items Leonard planned to give to the other guys, and the other was for items he planned to throw away.

He started with his closet. He picked several pairs of pants, and several shirts, along with his beloved hoodies, leaving those in the closet. Those items were going into his luggage and he put all his other clothes in the large pile on the floor.. He then did the same thing with his dresser, pulling out those things he wanted in his luggage, and putting them into the closet. The rest went into the pile that the movers would pack. The sweater Penny gave him for his birthday along with several other pieces of clothing she had given him, went in the discard pile. He got to the bottom drawer and hesitated. _This is going to be tough._ He sighed, opened it and looked. It contained various things Penny had given him through the years, most of them he put in the discard pile.

He turned back to the drawer, in the bottom were the last four things. He took the Star Trek transporter out, and looked at it. It had been taken out of the box, but only once. He had tears in his eyes, remembering what he had told Penny, _It's from you, I'm never going to sell it._ Leonard shook his head, coming back to the present. _Well, at least I'm not selling it._ He put it on the pile to give to the guys. _Sheldon would soon have a not quite mint in box transporter, to replace his broken one._ The largest item, was what appeared to be a blue blanket, but Leonard knew better. The blanket had sleeves, and Penny had given it to him before he had gone on the North Pole expedition. He took it out and over to the pile that would be thrown out. He paused, wanting to throw the blanket in that pile, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He thought about the night Penny gave it to him, and the nights he had used it at the North Pole, and how, after he returned, they would sit on the couch together, using it as a blanket, and he finally decided he couldn't toss it, and took it over to pile the movers would pack.

He returned and picked up a picture in a small frame, it was the picture Bernadette had taken. It showed him and Penny, along with the remains of their dinner on the coffee table. This, he also decided to keep, and laid it on top of the blue blanket. Finally, he pulled out a small blue case, and opened it. Inside, was a pair of cufflinks, and an old watch. Both belonged to his Uncle Floyd, one of the few relatives of his, who had shown him any affection. These had been sent to him by Floyd's widow, with a note that Floyd had wanted Leonard to have them. Also in the case, was the small ring, with the six prong setting, he had planned on giving to Penny. He never had the chance to give it to her, and now he had no use for it. He pulled it out and looked at it, tears forming in his eyes. He finally put it back in the box, and closed it. This, he decided, would be his memory box, for jewelry.

He looked around and saw other things in the room, that reminded him of Penny. He decided he had the ring, the picture and the blanket to remember the good times with Penny, and that was all he needed. So, most everything else in the room, that reminded him of Penny, went in the discard pile. Those few of the other items went into a new pile, to be given to Amy or Bernadette. He then took the clothes and other things that were on his bed, and put them in the closet, with the other clothes he was taking with him. By the time he finished, he was emotionally drained. Fortunately, he was finished and able to leave the room. He returned to the living room, to pack his various books. As he walked to the living room, he remembered he had to call Amy. _I'll do that after I get the books packed,_ he thought.

 **Studio 44 4:30 PM Thursday December 13th 2012.**

Penny was in her dressing room, waiting for Jeanie. The run-through had gone well, and they were finished for the day. Penny heard the knock, packed up her things and they started down the stairs. Coming up the stairs was Brent, and both Penny and Jeanie just smiled sweetly at him. He scowled and hurriedly walked past them. They continued down the stairs, and left the studio, with Penny extremely glad Jeanie was with her.

On the way home they were discussing the run-through, and as they approached their apartment building Jeanie said, "Did you get all your things done at lunch?"

Penny just nodded, not wanting to discuss it just yet. They got to the door and Jeanie said, "Have you talked to Leonard yet?"

Penny stopped, tears forming in her eyes. She tried to start speaking three times and couldn't, just shaking her head, tears were falling from her eyes.

Jeanie just pulled her forward, and they took the elevator up to the third floor. Jeanie got out with Penny, and they entered Penny's apartment. They put their things on the kitchen table and Jeanie said, "What's going on?"

Penny turned and walked to the couch, sat down and put her face in her hands, lightly sobbing. Jeanie walked to the couch and sat down next to her, gave her a hug, and said gently, "Come on Penny, talk to me."

Penny looked at Jeanie, with tears running down her cheeks. _Why am I hesitating? I know, I know, it's because she'll tell me something I don't want to hear._ Penny dropped her head, and sighed. _She's my friend, the only one I have here. She's been so helpful, and I've been so bitchy toward her._

Penny looked back up and said, "I…I…called, and…I got a message telling me his phone wasn't in service. So I called one of my friends, you know, to ask why, and she told me Leonard was leaving Pasadena."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Jeanie.

"He's moving to England, to Oxford, to teach starting in January." said Penny sobbing, "he said… there were too many memories for him to stay there…" She broke down sobbing.

Jeanie leaned over and enveloped her in a hug, saying, "I'm sorry honey." She held her in the hug, until she stopped sobbing.

"Then you have to go back, for Christmas, like I told you," said Jeanie. "Talk to him then, before he leaves."

Penny sat up, looking at Jeanie. "It's too late, he's leaving Tuesday, and we have a taping on Tuesday. He'll be gone before I can get out there."

Jeanie looked at Penny sadly.

"There's more," said Penny, "since Leonard is leaving, I don't need my apartment there anymore. If I go back to visit, I can stay at a hotel, because seeing his old apartment would be too much for me. I'll call my girlfriends in California, to pack up the apartment."

"Why didn't you come to me before you did that?"

"And what would you have told me?" asked Penny. "Not to do it? Why? He's not going to be there, and if he's not there, I don't want to be there."

"Why?"

"He's not the only one who has memories," said Penny bitterly.

"So, what we have," said Jeanie, "is that Leonard is leaving, so you are giving up your apartment in California. What are you going to do, live here?"

"For now," said Penny softly, "I'll have to look for an apartment to move to, after the season is over, and through next year, if we're renewed. But, I'll really have to wait until the decision to renew the show is made."

Jeanie nodded, "That's good, but Penny, please, before you do anything like that again, at least talk to me, and listen to my ideas, OK?"

Penny nodded.

"And, hey, if you're serious about finding an apartment, maybe we could find one together, a two bedroom, two bath. We could be roommates, or maybe a three bedroom, so if we have any guests."

Penny smiled at that, "That would be nice,"

"Do you need me to stick around, tonight?" said Jeanie.

"No, why?"

"Well, you know how you get, and you were pretty down when we got home, and still are," said Jeanie.

"No, I should make it," said Penny. "I'll get dinner, go over my script, just kinda hang out."

"You could watch our show, tonight."

"Is it a new one?" asked Penny. "I haven't been keeping track, and I haven't been watching."

Jeanie chuckled, "I don't watch either, but I keep track of when and what show is on. This is the 11th show of the season, we'll pick up after the new year. If you're going to be OK, I'll leave and see you in the morning."

Jeanie picked up her things, and walked to the door, with Penny following. After Jeanie left, Penny closed and locked the door, and went to her kitchen to make some dinner. While she cooked, she remembered she needed to call Amy, later tonight. After eating, she cleaned up, and started looking at her script, but she couldn't concentrate. Between thinking of Leonard, trying to decide what she should have sent to New York, and what to leave in storage in California, she was distracted. This led her to think about that box in her closet, the one with all of the mementos of Leonard. Remembering the tickets, the rose, the letter he wrote, she started to cry, she decided she needed a drink. She opened a bottle of wine, and planned on drinking two glasses. But, the two glasses didn't make her feel any better, so she had a few more glasses. By 10 PM, she was pretty drunk, and had forgotten to call Amy. She did remember to take some aspirin and drink a glass of water before getting to bed, hoping her hangover would be lessened by this.

 **Apartment 4A 7:30 PM Thursday December 13th 2012.**

Leonard opened the door, seeing, as expected, Amy there, with tonight's food. She entered and walked over to put the pizza, salad, and bread on the coffee table, where Leonard had put three plates and bowls.

"You remember what we talked about, right?" asked Leonard, as he paid Amy for the food.

"Yes, play up the experimental part," said Amy. She looked thoughtful, then said, "I don't know Leonard, he was pretty angry with me when I brought it up to him yesterday."

"I think it will work. While not really accepting it, he knows he can't stop me. He's been a little more concerned about it today. Now, remember, I'll point out about a five-month voyage to see if it will work and also how he'll get to write another roommate agreement."

"I just hope it will work," said Amy.

"It will," said Leonard, "if you remember the rest, about playing it calm, not being too excited or he'll think you are too eager."

"I know I know," said Amy, "I was so excited when you called. But, I have to be cool."

Leonard nodded and said, "Well, go get him, he won't come out for me. I've betrayed him."

"He's not all that thrilled with me right now, either," said Amy as she walked down the hall. Leonard could hear her knocking, then softly talking. Leonard sat in his chair, taking a few pieces of pizza and a bit of salad.

He could hear Sheldon behind him, "I thought you said he wasn't here."

"You asked if he was here, when I was standing by your room. He wasn't, he was in the living room."

"Sometimes you can be so tedious, Amy Farrah Fowler," said Sheldon.

"Now that you're here, get something to eat," said Amy, "Leonard and I have to talk to you about something."

"Why would I want to talk to the traitor, Leonard has become?" said Sheldon. "Or, you for that matter, with your silly suggestions?"

"I said Leonard and I," said Amy, "so Leonard and I, together, have something to talk to you about."

Sheldon rolled his eyes, but he did take some pizza, while Amy went to get two bottles of water, for her and Sheldon. She then made up a salad and they all ate.

They had cleaned everything up and put away the extra food, when Sheldon said, "I suppose we're going to talk now. But, I still don't want to talk to Leonard. He betrayed me, by breaking the roommate agreement, and leaving me no one to drive me around."

Leonard saw his opening, and said, "Sheldon, I'm leaving, you're going to have to get used to that. But, I've been going in and coming home, from work, way off of your schedule, for the last two weeks. So, who's been driving you?"

"Amy," said Sheldon, "but I can't rely on her all the time. She lives in Glendale, I live here in Pasadena. Amy picking me up in the morning, or talking me home after work is logical, because she has to go by our building, to get home from work. But, otherwise, it's out of her way to come and get me."

That's nice of you to think of her," said Leonard.

"That's not was I was doing," said Sheldon. "I'm just pointing out how illogical it is for me to have to wait for her to take me to and from work. You, will just have to stay to do that job."

"Well," said Leonard, "that objection would go away, if she was here all the time, right?"

"What do you mean, here all the time?" said Sheldon.

"I mean, here, all of the time," said Leonard.

"I don't understand," said Sheldon. "She can't be here all of the time, she has to go to work."

"Sheldon," said Amy, "What Leonard is trying to tell you, is what I mentioned yesterday. That if I were to live here, I would be here all the time."

"What do you mean, live here?" said a suspicious Sheldon.

"I mean, move into Leonard's room."

"Ummmmmmmmm"

"It would make everything much easier for me…errrr, you," said Amy. "I won't have to stop here, to drop you off, I'd just stop here. If you need to go out somewhere, I'd already be here to take you, making it faster. You wouldn't have to call me, or worry about making contact with me."

"Ummmmmmmmm"

"We could just go out to pick up food, on the weekends, instead of meeting you here, and then going out."

"Ummmmmmmmm"

"What do you say Sheldon, it's a good idea, right?"

"Amy," said Sheldon in a condescending manner, "you know I'm not equipped to live with you. We have different bathroom needs, and we can't be in there at the same time."

"Sheldon," said Leonard, "WE don't go into the bathroom at the same time, so why is this a problem?"

"Amy and I would be spending too much time together."

"What?" said Amy. "I come here in the morning and pick you up. Then we go to the cafeteria for breakfast. We separate for work and only get together during lunch. After work, I bring you home, then someone brings dinner here, and I'm here until you go to bed, when I leave to go home. If I moved into Leonard's room, we still wouldn't see each other much in the morning, because we would have different bathroom times. We would see each other about the same as we do now, when I drive you to work. At work, I would see you at lunch, and after work, as we get ready to come home, like we do now. We would be together for dinner, as we are now, and when you go to bed, I would go to my bedroom, instead of leaving for home, like I do now. Your argument about spending too much time together, is a fallacy."

Sheldon couldn't think of anything to say, so he turned to Leonard.

Leonard shook his head, "Sheldon, you will have a lot of trouble finding someone else to put up with your…your…quirks."

"Yes," said Amy, "you need me, because those quirks, Leonard mentioned, which some find abhorrent, or rage inducing, I find, cute as a button."

"See, Sheldon," said Leonard, "here you have someone in Amy, who actually likes your quirks, and is willing to drive you around. I don't see what other option you have."

"The other option is you staying here," said Sheldon, sounding angry.

"Another option would be for you to have to go through the process of finding another roommate, or take the bus," said Leonard. "You know how much you would enjoy that."

"I would not enjoy it," said Sheldon.

"That was sarcasm, Sheldon," said Leonard, as Sheldon stared at him angrily.

"Sheldon," said Amy, "you could think of this as an experiment. We could agree on an amount of time, say five months, and for those five months, we could gather data on both of us living here. After five months we can say the experiment was a success or a failure. Either way, we could then make a permanent decision, or possibly we decide we need more data."

"An experiment, eh," said Sheldon, now sounding interested.

"Or, think of it this way," said Leonard. "Instead of a five-year mission, for the Enterprise, this is a five-month mission, to explore the strange new world of living with Amy, in the same apartment , to boldly go where no Sheldon has gone before. Plus, if everything works out, you get to write a new roommate agreement and relationship agreement."

Sheldon nodded, "Like Star Trek, that's good."

"Well, what do you think, Sheldon?" asked Leonard.

"I'm still not sure."

"You only have a day or two," said Leonard.

"I know, I'll make the decision later, before then," said Sheldon.

"Can Amy do some checking in the room, so she can be ready if you decide it's what you will do?" asked Leonard.

"Of course."

Leonard started, "Amy, if you'll follow me…"

"Yes," said Sheldon.

Amy looked at Sheldon, confused, "Yes, follow him?"

"No," said Sheldon, "yes, to you moving into Leonard's room."

"That was awful quick," said Leonard, "and not much later."

"I really have no choice, since You are abandoning me," said Sheldon. "While I am uncomfortable with Amy moving into your room, I would be much more uncomfortable, having to ride the bus without my buspants, and bungee cord, or meeting all those strangers, to try to find a roommate who would be amendable to doing everything I need done. But what really made up my mind was the possibility of writing the new agreements, the Star Trek feeling, and the experiment idea."

"Completely understandable," said Leonard.

"Yes," said Amy, "It's only logical."

"Amy, you are not a fan of Star Trek," said Sheldon, "so you don't get to use Spock's phrase."

"But, it is only logical," said Leonard.

"See, you, Leonard, can use that phrase, you are a fan," said Sheldon.

Leonard looked at Amy and winked, and she winked back. He was proud of her, she had stayed calm. Leonard was relieved that Sheldon had agreed, as he would have someone to take care of him, as Leonard had done. Someone who loved Sheldon like he did, probably more than he did.

 **A/N You may have noticed I moved several things around. Penny gave them the transporters near the end of season 5, which would be around the time Penny and Leonard were in NY, so that fits. The comment, by Amy about "abhorrent and rage inducing" was in the spring of season six (about three months ahead of the time in this chapter).** **Sheldon's admonishment about not being a fan, to Amy, was a take off on Raj berating Penny for her comment about Jar-Jar, on Star Wars day, near the end of season seven. A** **nd, finally, the other comments (about an experiment) were in the beginning of season ten, so I did pull that ahead by four years, but it fit the situation, so what the hell. :)**


	73. Chapter 72

**A/N Really nothing to say here. Leonard getting things ready, Penny still struggling with some things. BTW, I don't own the characters, Warner Brothers and the other author own them. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.**

 **Chapter 72 3062**

 **Apt 314 9:00 AM Friday December 14th 2012.**

Jeanie was early, as she didn't usually come down to Penny's apartment, until 9:30. But, she was ready early, and after yesterday, she was afraid that Penny may have started drinking again. She hoped if she had, and was hung over, she could get her ready for work in time. Jeanie knocked, and waited. After about 30 seconds, she knocked again. There was still no answer, so Jeanie pulled out her key, and opened the door. She entered the apartment, calling out, "Penny, are you here?"

As she came into the main part of the apartment, she saw Penny, with her head in her arms, on the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of her. _Well, at least she's up,_ thought Jeanie as she walked up to her. "Penny," she said. When there was no reaction, she shook her, and said, "Penny!"

Penny raised her head, and looked confused, but didn't say anything. Jeanie could see her bloodshot eyes, and that she was hung over again. So she called out once more, and louder, "Penny!"

"Huh?"

"Penny, it's nine AM," said Jeanie sternly, "you need get your ass in the shower, and get ready for work. You don't have a lot of time, now go."

Penny shook her head, got up, and walked toward the bathroom. While she took her shower, Jeanie made up coffee and poured it into Penny's travel mug, packed Penny's bag and set out her keys. She also put a couple of aspirin out, with a glass of water. After that, Jeanie made up a cup of coffee for herself, then looked over her script, while she waited for Penny. Penny appeared at 9:25, and Jeanie pointed toward the aspirin the water, watching to make sure she took them. She then handed Penny her keys, the cup and bag, and walked toward the door. Penny didn't say anything, she just followed Jeanie. Penny locked her door, and within minutes they were walking toward work.

Penny could tell Jeanie was upset with her, as Jeanie hadn't said anything on the walk to work. As they turned down 57 street, Penny said meekly, "How mad are you with me?"

Jeanie kept walking, but turned her head toward Penny and said, "Very. I'm getting pretty tired of finding you hung over and having to get you moving. And, I'm really pissed today, because if I hadn't come down early, you would have never been ready. I've told you before, you won't find a solution to your problems, in the bottom of a wine bottle."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, quit being sorry, and stop getting drunk," said Jeanie, still sounding angry. "I told you to be professional with your work. Being hung over from drinking too much the night before a work, day after day, is not being professional. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Penny didn't know what to say to that, so she just kept quiet, walking with Jeanie toward the studio.

 **Apt 314 7:45 AM Friday December 14th 2012.**

Leonard had gotten up at 6:30, as they were coming for his things today, and he had a few final things to pack. He packed his luggage, and put it in his closet, so it would be out of the way. He had also put his messenger bag, with all his papers and his computer, in the closet. The bed and the other furniture in the bedroom, were going into storage, until Howard could sell them. He was leaving Sheldon the couch, the chair and the coffee and end tables, along with the desk. His books were packed in a half a dozen boxes, near the desk, and there were two more boxes, in the bedroom. All of his books were going to England, packed into the shipping containers.

North American Van Lines were supposed to be here at 8 AM. He had eaten and was making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. He had found a couple more books, in the last check of the bookshelves, and was packing those away, when he thought he heard someone knocking on his door. He went to the apartment door and opened it. There was no one there, but across the hall was a guy, with a shirt that had a North American Van Lines logo on it, along with a pile of boxes. Leonard said, "Excuse me, I believe you are supposed to be over here. My name is Leonard Hofstadter."

The guy looked at his paperwork, flipped a page, then looked at the first page again. "No, I have the right place. I'm supposed to drop off these boxes at apartment 4B, before loading up your stuff. The other guy is bringing our equipment."

"What are you talking about?" said Leonard.

"We're supposed to drop these off," he said, "before loading your stuff."

"I don't understand."

"We're packing up this apartment on Monday," he said, "so I'm dropping these off today."

"For who?"

"Let's see," said the guy flipping the paperwork, "damn, carbon copies, I can't make out who it belongs to, but there are supposed to be two agents, a…wow, that's a mouthful, Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz and a…what the hell, does everyone around here have three names…an Amy Farrah Fowler."

"Where's it going?"

"Well, you're awful nosy."

"Come on," said Leonard, "there's no one in there right now, I have a key for the place and I'll unlock it for you."

"Almost all of it is going into storage," said the guy, "and a little bit is going to New York."

Leonard felt a wrench in the pit of his stomach. _So Penny is packing up her apartment too, probably leaving it, since she doesn't need to live here anymore._ Leonard shook his head, _I guess it's a good thing I'm leaving, I don't think I could handle someone else in the apartment._ Leonard reach over and grabbed the key, "I'll open it for you, then I'll be across the hall when you're ready," said Leonard sadly, as he walked to 4B, to open the door.

 **Amy's car 7:50 AM Friday December 14th 2012.**

Amy had just gotten onto the 134, going towards Pasadena, when her phone rang. She pushed the button on her steering wheel and said, "Hello?"

"Hi Amy."

"Bestie?" said Amy excitedly. "Is that you?"

"Yes it is," said Penny. "Can you do something for me today and this weekend?"

"What do you need?"

"I'm having my apartment packed up, and…"

"What? Why?"

Penny paused and then continued sadly, "You know why. Leonard is leaving, and I live in New York, so there's no reason for me to have an apartment there anymore. When I come out, I'll stay in a hotel."

"Yes, he's leaving," said Amy, "Leonard is leaving because you're not talking to him. And, you're dating that new guy. "

Penny paused, "Amy, I only got a couple of minutes until tonight, and I don't have time to argue about it. They are dropping some boxes off at the apartment this morning, can you get the emergency key from Sheldon and put them in the apartment and then pack up a few things over the weekend? "

Amy thought for a minute, "No, no, you can't leave here. You're my best friend, and if you leave, who's going to be my best friend."

"You have Sheldon, and Bernadette."

"No, that isn't good enough," said Amy. "I told you before you couldn't leave, and that still goes."

"Amy," said Penny, "I can't stay there for the same reason Leonard can't. There are too many memories. I've screwed everything up, and the only thing I can do is move out. Now, can you do those things for me, or do I need to find someone else?"

Amy hadn't thought about it that way, she continued thinking about it, until Penny said, "You there, Amy?"

"Yes, I'm still here," said Amy. "I hadn't thought of it that way. I can see why you might not want to come back to the building."

"So, can you get the boxes now, and over the weekend, pack up the stuff I need packed?" said Penny.

Although disappointed, Amy said softly, "I should be able to do that."

"Thank you," said Penny, "I'll send you a list of what I need shipped to New York. That's all you really need to worry about. The rest will be packed and put into storage, or tossed out, and you won't have to mess with either of those. I'm going to call Bernadette too, although she's probably mad at me."

"I'm not happy about this, Penny," said Amy, "but I'll do what I can for my bestie."

"I'm really sorry Amy," said Penny, "I've got to go, they are getting ready to do a run through. I'll send you the list and give you a call tonight. Thanks again, goodbye."

"Goodbye Penny," said Amy. They both disconnected.

 **Apt 4A 8:15 AM Friday December 14th 2012.**

Amy got to the fourth floor landing and she could hear Sheldon, who sounded upset, _not surprisingly,_ she thought.

"Leonard you need to have all this cleared out."

"Sheldon, it will be, by the time you get home tonight," said Leonard. "Hell, it will be gone by noon today. Isn't that right?" he asked, pointing to one of the workers, who nodded.

Amy walked in and looked around. The two workers were packing everything while Sheldon stood behind the kitchen island looking angry. She spoke up, "Sheldon, it will be gone soon, so why don't you just get ready and we can leave."

"But Amy, these…"

"Sheldon, don't worry about this, just go get ready."

"Wow, is this the kind of attitude I can expect when you move in?"

"Only if I get the kind of attitude I'm getting from you right now," said Amy. "Now go get ready."

Sheldon, in a huff, left for his bedroom. Amy turned to Leonard and said, "How are you doing, Leonard?"

Leonard shook his head, "I was getting by, until this morning." He paused, and looking at Amy, said, "Amy, did you know Penny was packing up her apartment?"

"I found out this morning, on my way over here," said Amy. "She called and told me they were supposed to drop off some boxes and she asked me to put the boxes in the apartment, but I didn't see any."

"You don't have to do it," said Leonard, "I let the guy in. Do you know if she's leaving the apartment?"

Amy looked sadly at Leonard, "Yes, she is. I'm sorry Leonard."

Leonard nodded, "It's…it's…I…it's OK."

"Leonard," said Amy, "she say's that…"

"No, Amy," said Leonard, shaking his head, "it really doesn't matter anymore, I'm leaving in four days, and there's really no reason for her to stay either. I'll…"

"OK, Amy," said Sheldon, "I'm ready, we can go now."

Amy turned to look at Leonard, he looked sad, but he simply waved his hand saying, "Go ahead, you don't want to hear him complaining about being late."

Amy nodded and left with Sheldon. Leonard looked around, he could hear the guys in his bedroom, taking his bed apart, so he started over to 4A, to lock it back up.

 **CalTech, 2:15 PM Friday December 14th 2012.**

Leonard plan was to stop by various offices at CalTech, saying his goodbyes to people he had worked with, or became friendly with, over the last nine years. He had left the apartment as soon as the movers had finished. They had two crates going to England, and another, along with his furniture, going into storage. After arriving at the university, he had one last lunch at the cafeteria. His first stop was at Leslie's office. She was indifferent to his leaving, and made a couple of comments about "Blondie", before he left. Kripke was sarcastic about his leaving, but the rest of people, he stopped to see, made him feel that they were going to miss him. His last stop was going to be at Raj's office. While Raj might be over to eat, he may not be, so Leonard wanted to say goodbye. He knew he would see Sheldon and Amy over the next few days, and Howard and Bernadette would be taking him to the airport.

He arrived at the Raj's door, and hesitated. He hadn't been very close to Raj over the last year and half, ever since the night of the incident with Penny. To Leonard, it seemed to be a combination of things, his being with Penny, Raj not telling him about Priya, and Raj continued bragging about that night. Oh, when all four guys, or all seven of them, just the six of them recently, were together, it seemed to be fine. No, it was when just the two of them were alone, when it became awkward. Raj, too, didn't seem eager to get together with Leonard alone, as he had started coming over, only with Howard, or to talk to Sheldon. Very rarely did Raj asks for Leonard anymore. Knowing this could possibly turn awkward, Leonard paused before knocking on the door. Finally, he took a deep breath, knocked on the door, and when Raj said, "Come in," Leonard opened the door and walked in.

 **Studio 44, 4:45 PM Friday December 14th 2012.**

Steve had told everyone they were done for the day, and Jeanie had walked Penny to her dressing room, to keep her from running into Brent by herself. Penny got her things, and then they both went down to Jeanie's dressing room. She packed up her stuff and they left. Jeanie was just as quiet on the way home, as she had been that morning. Penny thought that Jeanie was still mad at her. In reality, Jeanie realized being mad wasn't going to be helpful. At this point, Penny was more than likely to be defensive about it, if Jeanie was yelling at her. Jeanie was thinking that she should be more concerned, and less angry when talking to Penny. After getting back to their building, they each went to their apartment, dropped off their things and met in the lobby.

They had planned to go out for dinner, and they decided to have Indian food for dinner, They walked to the restaurant they had previously eaten at, and were led to a table, sat down, and started looking over the menu. The waitress asked if she could start them on drinks, and Penny, after a hard stare from Jeanie, ordered a tea.

After ordering, Jeanie said, "Look, I'm sorry I was so mad this morning."

"No, I get it," said Penny. "You're trying to help me, I screwed up, and you got mad, it's fine."

"No, it's not," said Jeanie. "Yelling and getting mad isn't going to help," "I should be more helpful, more understanding. I can see how hard this is for you, but you really have to work on it."

Penny didn't say anything, just nodded.

"But," said Jeanie, "I've got a few more questions for you, about that night and morning with Brent."

Penny cringed, but nodded for Jeanie to continue.

"You said you were nauseous, how long did that last?"

Penny thought for a few minutes, then said, "I'm not really sure. Every time I thought about what happened, I would get sick to my stomach, but I'm not sure that had anything to do with being hung over. So, really, I don't know if it was from the hangover, or just a reaction because what happened made me sick."

Jeanie was thinking, "So, what we know. You had two drinks that you know of. You were really hung over the next day; the hangover went on for most of the day, and for some things, into the next day; and you don't have any memory of what happened. Anything else?"

"Nothing that I can remember," said Penny. "There is the stuff he told me I did and said."

"Like I told you," said Jeanie, "treat everything Brent told you as a lie."

"Why the questions?"

"I got an answer back from one of my friends, who went through something similar," said Jeanie. "But some of the things you said, don't quite match up with her description, but it's pretty close, so I'm not sure. I sent a few others, messages, and I have to wait until I get them back."

"Are you still trying to figure out if he drugged me?" asked Penny.

"I think there is a possibility you were drugged," said Jeanie. "But, the symptoms aren't quite the same, so I can't positively tell you he did, yet."

"Who is it?"

Jeanie got a far-off look in her eyes, thinking about the question, before she said, "I'm sorry Penny, I really can't tell you. She's still struggling with it, and it can still affect her work. She wouldn't want it to come out, because it could make it hard for her to find work. Besides her shrink, I think I'm the only one who knows. Look at it this way, how would you like for me to tell others what happened to you?"

Penny thought for a few seconds, then shook her head, "No, you're right, I wouldn't want you to tell anybody else."

"Remember this, Penny," said Jeanie, "you are not a rag paper. You don't spread rumors or secrets about people in the business. That will cause you more trouble than anything else in this business. You should realize that, between the report of what happened on set, and that picture."

Penny nodded.

"Now," said Jeanie, "we are going to eat dinner, we are going back to my place, watch a couple of movies, drink tea or soda, make some popcorn and generally have a quiet night, tonight. Same thing over the weekend, except we'll go over our scripts. How's that sound?"

Penny had nothing else to say, except, "That sounds great."

 **Apt 4A 9:15 PM Saturday December 15th 2012.**

There were five people sitting around the coffee table, only Raj wasn't present. The goodbye between Leonard and Raj had not gone well, they ended up arguing about what had happened that night, and about Raj not telling Leonard about Priya leaving. As a result, Raj decided it was better if he didn't come to have dinner tonight. Leonard felt bad about how his conversation with Raj had ended, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

They had finished dinner and cleaned up, and were now just talking, mostly about Leonard leaving in three days. He had given Sheldon several books, and he had given Howard some of his figurines, several games, and some books. He had some similar things for Raj, and asked Howard to give them to him. Looking at the various shelves, he was sad, because they were all pretty empty. Leonard had also given Amy and Bernadette several things of Penny, he no longer wanted.

A few minutes later, Bernadette and Amy had told Leonard that they would be packing up several things that Penny wanted shipped to her, tomorrow and Amy would be at the apartment on Monday, when the shippers came. As it approached ten PM, Howard and Bernadette said their goodbyes to everyone else, before leaving. Then Amy said goodbye to Sheldon, and Leonard, and she left. Sheldon walked off to his room, while Leonard prepared the couch to sleep on. He then went to the bathroom to do his usual nightly preparations, and then back out to the couch. After turning out the light, it only took him a few minutes to fall asleep.


	74. Chapter 73

**A/N I haven't done a disclaimer for a while, so, I don't own the main characters here. The seven from the show, obviously belong to Warner Brothers and a few, here and there, are owned by the previous story's author. I guess I do own Roger Thompson, although if there is anyone named Roger Thompson, I do apologize as my Roger Thompson is fictional.**

 **Chapter 73**

 **Apt 4B 2:00 PM Sunday December 16th 2012.**

Amy and Bernadette had finished packing up the things from the list Penny had sent to Amy. There were three boxes, one with clothes Penny had wanted, a whole box of shoes, and a box full of personal items, knick-knacks, a couple books, and pictures. Amy would be taking these three with her, to mail to Penny. There was one other box, Penny had listed, that neither of them quite knew what to do with. Although Penny had told Amy to throw all of it out, Amy and Bernadette weren't sure they should.

When they had first looked in it, they were initially puzzled as to what the items were. There was a yellow rubber duck, a pressed rose, an airplane ticket to Omaha, tickets to different movies or attractions, and a negative pregnancy test. They were trying to understand what all this was, until Amy found an envelope, with a bunch of folded pages. Amy didn't want to look at them, thinking they were private, but Bernadette wasn't so reticent.

After reading part of the first page, she looked at the other stuff and realized what the box was. "I think I know what this box is now," said Bernadette sadly. "I think it's Penny's keepsake box. All the different things Leonard did for her, or things that reminded her of him, went in this box."

Hearing what Bernadette had said, Amy nodded, looking sad, "That would be my guess too," said Amy. "Do you think we should tell Leonard?"

"I don't know," said Bernadette, "at this point, I don't think it matters."

Just then, they heard a knock on the door, and they left the bedroom. Amy answered the door, and there was a guy there. Amy looked at him and said, "Can I help you?"

"Yes," he said looking at his paperwork, "my name is Roger Thompson, I'm from the car agency. I'm supposed to pick up two sets of car keys from an Amy Fowler."

"Oh, yeah," said Amy, as she turned to go to the kitchen counter. She picked up the keys, and the papers under them. Walking back to Roger, she said, "Do you have the paperwork, and your ID?"

"Yes," said Roger. He pulled out his paperwork and his ID and handed it to Amy. She compared it to the note she had, from Penny, and then checked the picture on the ID.

Seeing they matched, she had him sign both pieces of the paperwork, then Amy signed them. After that, she handed both sets of keys, and the papers she had, to the guy, and said, "The car is just outside of the building."

Roger took the keys, handed Amy a check and thanked her before leaving. Amy started putting the boxes out in the hall, while Bernadette took the box with the mementos from the bedroom. After they got all the boxes in the hall, Amy closed the door.

She went over to 4A and went in. Leonard and Sheldon were both sitting on the couch, watching TV, and Amy said, "OK, Bernadette and I are done, I'm going to lock it up, before we leave. I'll be coming back to the apartment tomorrow morning, when they pack it up. Goodbye for now, I'll see both of you later, for dinner."

"Amy?"

"Yes, Leonard?"

"Can I get one last look at the place, before you lock it up?"

Amy nodded and grabbed the keys, while Leonard got up and went across the hall to 4B. He opened the door, and looked around the living room and kitchen, but with a few of the things missing, it didn't quite look the same. He was remembering the talks he had with Penny, watching movies and TV shows together. The times they gotten drunk here, the dinners they had eaten together.

He walked to the bedroom, remembering the first time they had sex. He also thought about the times they just slept, or laid in the bed with her, his arm around her, just the connection by laying together and…

It was starting to overwhelm him, tears starting in his eyes, so he turned and mumbled, "This was a mistake," and walked out of the bedroom, and back toward his apartment. Getting to his door, he stopped and turned, remembering seeing her through the door that first day. His tears increased and he quickly turned back and walked into 4A.

"Leonard, wait," said Bernadette, walking after him. "You can't let it go like this, you need to go get her."

"It's too late Bernadette," said Leonard, his eyes filled with tears. "She's having this apartment packed up, so she's not coming back. I'm leaving, and besides, I want her to have her career. She's doing so well now. All the notice, it's what she wanted, and she's made it. That's what I want for her."

"What about you?" said Bernadette, sounding frustrated. "What do you want?"

"I want her to be happy," said Leonard.

"She can't be happy without you," said Bernadette.

"Yes she can," said Leonard.

"Here, I think you should see this," said Bernadette, taking the box from Amy and opening it, "Look at all the stuff of yours she kept. She loves you and you need to go get her and straighten all this out."

Leonard looked in the box, "I can't believe she kept all this stuff."

"Of course she did," said Bernadette, "she loves you."

Leonard was choking up, "Not anymore. Many of those things are from the first time we were together, or even broken up. There are many of the more recent things, but it doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"Bernadette," said Leonard, "don't you remember that she's dating someone else now? Don't you remember that I want her to succeed in her job? Besides like I said, I can't go get her."

"Why not?" Asked Amy.

"You don't understand, If I go get her, and bring her back, it will ruin her career, and I don't think I can take the responsibility of that. I feel guilty just thinking about going.m And, what if I do go get her? Do you think at some point she won't get resentful of that? Either way, it would be very difficult for us to be together if I feel guilty about it all the time, or she feels resentful, or even some of each. If I did go get her, it just seems sooner or later it would be over for us. I don't want to spend my time waiting for it to all go wrong again. I couldn't go through that again."

Leonard could feel tears forming, so he hung his head, "At this point, we're better off to just stay apart, as we are now. I'll be in Europe, she'll be in New York. I'm leaving, she's going to be a star, let's just leave it at that."

Bernadette and Amy were both on the edge of tears. Leonard said goodbye, and went to 4A, heading straight for his bedroom. He now had a headache and just wanted to lay down.

Amy went and locked the door, then got Sheldon to help her and Bernadette carry the four boxes down and put them in Amy's car. Bernadette said goodbye to Amy and Sheldon, then got in her car and left. Amy reminded Sheldon she was coming back for dinner, and would see him then. She got into her car, and drove off.

 **4A 6:00 PM Monday December 17th 2012.**

Leonard was folding his underwear and putting them in his suitcase. While he was doing this, he was thinking about his day.

He had left the house early, as he didn't want to be there when Amy was watching Penny's stuff get packed. Besides, he had to go back to the university, to complete some of the paperwork, and he would be back tomorrow to complete the final paperwork, and to turn in his badge. While there, he said goodbye to several other people he had missed the previous week. He also had remembered Alex and after talking to her, he a large lump in his throat and she was in tears.

He thought about making a final stop at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch, but then decided against it. He was afraid he would run into waitress friends of Penny's, and he didn't know if they knew the two of them had broken up. Worse, they might ask how Penny was doing and either way, it would have been awkward and Leonard didn't want to deal with it. After lunch at Big Boy, he had stopped at several places around Pasadena, to say his goodbyes, before heading home, to do laundry before he packed. His laundry was now done and he was folding and packing it. All that was left was to wait for Amy and Sheldon, as they were bringing dinner home. He finished packing his underwear, and decided to go get the rest of his laundry, before they arrived with dinner.

 **Wolowitz house, 6:30 PM Monday December 17th 2012.**

Bernadette was looking at her phone. She needed to call Penny, about her stuff getting picked up. But, there was another reason for her to call, and she was unsure about her idea to confront Penny about what was going on. Finally, she picked it up, found Penny's number and pushed on the call button. She heard it ring several times, before Penny answered. "Hello Bernadette, why are you calling?" asked Penny, sharply.

That didn't sound promising to Bernadette. She knew how defensive Penny could be, and she sure sounded defensive already. "I'm just letting you know that your stuff was picked up, the apartment is empty."

Even though she already knew, from Amy, Penny choked up at that. She had always felt at home in that apartment, more so than any other place she had ever lived, even the home she grew up in. She felt that way because it was all hers, and she had good neighbors.

"Yes, I know," said Penny, "Amy called and left a message."

"That's why I'm calling," said Bernadette. "Amy asked me to call, because she hadn't heard back . She also left the key with the landlord. Where were you?"

"Where was I?" said Penny sounding puzzled. "I was working. We were doing the pre-shoots for tomorrow's taping, where the hell do you think I was?"

 _This isn't going very well,_ thought Bernadette. "Sorry, I was just wondering."

"Fine, if you don't have anything else, I've got to go…"

"Wait Penny," said Bernadette.

"What?"

Bernadette paused, she wasn't sure how to bring this up. Finally she said, "How's things going with Brent?"

Penny stifled a gasp, "Who said anything about Brent?"

"No one," said Bernadette, "it's just last time you asked me what would happen if you were dating him. I now think you never were dating him."

"How would you know?"

"Well, you tend to talk about the guy you're dating," said Bernadette. "When we worked at The Cheesecake Factory together, you were always talking about who you were dating. You haven't said anything about this."

"Just keep your nose out of my business."

"When you were dating Leonard, everything was about him," continued Bernadette. "Leonard did this, Leonard did that. You don't do that with Brent. You know what, I think? I think you're still in love with Leonard."

"Wha…no…I don't…ummmmm," Penny sputtered. Finally she said, "Why?"

"Because of the box in your closet in the apartment," said Bernadette.

Penny was already upset talking about Brent and Leonard, now Bernadette bringing up the box was like a kick in the gut. Everything that had happened felt like it was crushing her. Tears formed in her eyes, brought on by the hurt, fear, shame and guilt, of her situation. Bernadette had no right to look in there, and Amy shouldn't have let her.

"I've moved on," said Penny, tears starting to form in her eyes, "and I'm quite happy."

"Sure you are," said Bernadette pushing her. "Is that why you're not talking about Brent?"

Penny was now very angry, she didn't want to talk about Brent, and she was trying to cover her other feelings. She was now ready to blow up on a convenient target, Bernadette offered that.

"Who the fuck gave you permission to look at my things?!" yelled Penny.

"I was helping Amy," said Bernadette.

"I asked HER to do it," said Penny, still yelling, "not for you to go poking your nose into my business. I'm going to have to call her, and tell her how bad she fucked up."

"It wasn't her fault," said Bernadette, "blame me, not her."

"You're right," said Penny, not as loud, but still sounding angry, "it is your fault. You know what, you've been a pain in my ass these last four to five weeks. Why?"

Bernadette was starting to get angry herself, "I'm just trying to help you, but I guess 'Ms. Big Shot' doesn't need help. I guess you can be proud of hurting your boyfriend, right? Look at me, I'm Penny and I know everything. I'm a big time star, who can kick her boyfriend around."

"You have no idea what you are talking about," yelled Penny, tears of frustration starting in her eyes. "So, why don't you just lay off of me. If you knew the full story you wouldn't be such a bitch to me."

This set Bernadette off, "I'm a bitch? I'm a bitch because I don't know the full story? You've been a bitch to your boyfriend and have hurt him badly, without telling him the full story. I've been asking but you won't tell me whole story either. So, you don't get to call me a bitch because I don't know the whole story. Until you do tell us the whole story, bitch fits you much better than it fits me. So why don't you tell us? No, you know what, if I'm such a pain in the ass, why are you even bothering to talk to me?"

"You know, you're right, I have been a bitch." said Penny. "But, you have been a pain in the ass, and I don't want to talk to you anymore. So, why don't you just fuck off."

Bernadette heard the line go dead. She shook her head, saying angrily, "Stupid, bitch."

 **4A 8:00 PM Monday December 17th 2012.**

Amy and Sheldon were watching a special on flags, Leonard could hear Sheldon complaining about how they got their facts wrong. Leonard was looking over a list Geoff had sent him, with the subjects of the lectures he would be giving the next semester. Leonard was a bit confused as in addition to the lectures, he would be obligated to do tutorials, with a smaller subset of his lecture group.

Amy's phone started vibrating and when Amy looked at it, she saw it was Penny. Not wanting to talk to her, with Leonard there, she got up and went into the bathroom.

She answered, "Hi Penny, what's…"

"Why did you let Bernadette look into that box I wanted you to throw out?"

"Huh? What?"

"I told you to throw that box out," said Penny. "Why did you have to show it to Bernadette? Now she's calling me with all sorts of weird ideas that I still love Leonard."

Amy thought for a minute. "I didn't show it to her, she looked." Amy paused for a minute, then said, "Why does Bernadette thinking you're still in love with Leonard matter? If you aren't in love with him, this shouldn't bother you, right?"

Penny choked up, and she wanted to yell at Amy, but it obviously wasn't her fault. Finally she said, "It's not bothering me, I just didn't need Bernadette to tell me what she thinks is wrong with me. She's not a psychologist. I just wanted to know why you let her look in it."

"I told you, I didn't let her, she just looked. What is wrong with you, Penny?" said Amy. "I did everything you wanted. I mailed the boxes, and the check for the car. I was there to give the keys to the car to the guy who gave me the check. I was there when they came to pack all your stuff up, and I gave the keys to the apartment to the landlord. I did everything you wanted me to do, but it seems the only thing I evidently didn't do right, was to prevent Bernadette from seeing what was in the box. Something you didn't tell I should keep from her from doing. I even though I threw it out, like you asked."

Penny, choked up, remembering the things in the box.

Amy continued, "So, I did everything you wanted done, except one thing you didn't tell me I needed to do. Now it sounds like you are mad at me," said Amy. "Why? Because Bernadette looked in the box, and saw all the mementos, and thinks you're still in love with Leonard? Again, why should that bother you, unless you ARE still in love with him, and still want the things in box? What is it?"

Penny felt cornered, then she tried, but couldn't speak for a few seconds.

"What's wrong Penny," said Amy, "is it because you can't think of a good reason, except you're still in love with him?"

Finally Penny sputtered out, "I don't need a lecture from you, or from Bernadette, telling me what I am or am not still feeling. Why don't you just leave me alone?"

 _Leave her alone?_ Amy became upset and sad, "Me, leave you alone? Penny, you called me and asked me to do something. I did it, but you're still mad at me. I just don't understand."

"Why are you pushing me on this?" said Penny. "You're as bad as Bernadette, both of you trying to make me feel worse than I already do about the whole situation, with work and Leonard..." Penny paused, realizing how close she had been to telling Amy.

"But, you called me," said Amy, now even more confused, "I didn't call you to bother you. And, make you feel worse about what? I don't even know what you're talking about."

 _Maybe I should just not call or answer the phone anymore,_ thought Penny. "I'm sorry, I've got to go," said Penny. "I think it's best if we just don't contact each other anymore."

Amy heard the phone disconnect, but she was in shock. There was definitely something wrong with Penny, but Amy wasn't sure what could be done. Tears started forming in Amy eyes as a feeling of sadness came over her. Sadness, because her first real, best, friend would think she was trying to make her feel bad. And, now, it appeared Penny was cutting off contact. Amy decided she would have to talk to Bernadette, tomorrow.


	75. Chapter 74

**A/N I don't think anyone will see the surprise in this chapter coming. Also, there is a longer Author's note at the end.**

 **Chapter 74**

 **Apt 314 8:30 PM Monday December 17th 2012.**

Penny had disconnected, but was still sad and angry. _Dammit, why couldn't Amy just do what I asked of her? Now, Bernadette's mad at me, and Amy is confused. And, both of them are pushing me and poking their noses into my business._ She was starting to tear up. _Yes, I'm still in love with him, that's why I broke up with him. I slept with someone else, and being drunk is no excuse._ _I'm just a worthless piece of shit, and I don't deserve someone like him and he doesn't deserve the pain I put him through._ _But, they don't understand, they don't know what happened, and they think I'm dating Brent. It's going to be like this every time I talk to them, so why bother? And if I do talk to them, I may end up telling them what's going on, I almost told Amy tonight. Maybe I should have told Leonard and the two of them what happened, but I'm no good at talking about things like this. Maybe I shouldn't talk to them anymore. Oh man, what the fuck should I do?_

She decided to put that thought to the side, and work on her script. The last taping of this year was tomorrow, and then they had two weeks off

 **Apt 4A 9:30 AM Tuesday December 18th 2012.**

Leonard poured a cup of coffee in his travel mug, and prepared to leave the apartment, prior to driving to the University. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled in and went right to Dr Gablehauser's office. They greeted each other, and then chatted for a bit, Eric wanting to know when he was leaving and when he would get to Oxford. Finally, he handed the paperwork to Leonard, who looked it over and signed it.

Dr Gablehauser then handed a piece of paper to Leonard, and explained, "This is your request for a sabbatical. Since you'll be doing research at another university, we will release you, but there will be no pay involved, from us. You'll have to resubmit a copy every three years, if you want it to stay in force."

Leonard nodded, and signed the request. Now, all he had left, was to turn in his badge, and sign the final paperwork at HR. When he turned to leave, Eric said, "Leonard."

Leonard turned back, looking at Eric quizzically.

Eric looked at Leonard seriously, "I just want to tell you, you've done a great job here. Although you hadn't gotten tenure, your name has been on the list for consideration, for the last three years. President Siebert wanted me to tell you to keep in touch with us. If, at some time you wish to come back, we will be more than happy to have you back."

Leonard smiled, "Thank you, sir, I will do that. And, best of luck to you."

Eric said, "Best of luck to you, also."

With that, they shook hands and Leonard left, going to Human Resources, where he turned in his badge, and signed his final paperwork. He then left CalTech for the last time, stopping at a cafe he had seen, driving to and from work all these years, but had never been to before. He spent a relaxing hour there, having a nice leisurely lunch. Afterward, he drove over to the comic book store, to go over his list of items that Stuart was selling for him. Stuart had found buyers for over half his items already, and gave Leonard a check for what he had sold and told him he had other people coming in, over the next week, and he would send Leonard a list of things he had sold, and a check, each week until everything was gone. Leonard thanked him and they stood around for another half hour, talking and saying goodbye to each other.

After leaving the comic book store, Leonard went home and finished packing. He had the clothes out for tomorrow, but everything else was packed. He would pack the clothes he was currently wearing in the morning. He also had his passport, tickets, and travel paperwork, in a folder, in his messenger bag, along with his computer. He would be having dinner with Sheldon and Amy, and then saying goodbye to Amy tonight. He really wasn't looking forward to that, and and since everything was done, decided to take a nap. He went to his room and laid down, falling asleep quickly.

 **Studio 44 4:00 PM Tuesday December 18th 2012.**

They had finished their morning and afternoon run-throughs, and the cast and crew gathered toward the right end of the camera bay. Kelli and Jim had a small Christmas Tree put up, in one of the unused set bays. After gathering everyone, they had small gifts passed out to the cast and crew, and they were given a couple of gifts by the cast and crew. Jim and Kelli both spoke, thanking everyone for their work on the series. The best present they gave them, was telling them the network had approved a back end order of another nine episodes. So, they would have a full season, and a job through, at least, May. There was a cheer at this, then Jim told everyone he had an announcement.

Everyone gathered around to hear him, as he said, "We are happy to announce that Penelope, has won the People's Choice Award for Best Newcomer." Jeanie hugged her and there was a yell and applause, until Jim raised his hand to quiet everyone. "Penelope, we'll have to shoot your acceptance, here, as you won't be able to attend. It's in LA, in January, and we'll be shooting that week."

Penny forced a smile and nodded. The award wasn't a big deal with her, just like the People Magazine award a week or two before. She just didn't feel she had either earned or deserved them. And, now, with her not being happy with show business, or her life in general, the award didn't mean anything to her. They were all released and Penny and Jeanie ate, then Jeanie walked Penny to her dressing room. She told Penny she would be back around 5:15, so they could both get their makeup and hair done, so they would be ready for the start of the taping at 6:30 PM.

In her dressing room, Penny was restless. She had been upset for most of the day, with Amy and especially Bernadette, for pushing her about that box and she was now trying to calm herself down for the taping. _Why couldn't Amy have just tossed it, before Bernadette saw the box? Now they want to tell me I'm still in love with him, and what I should be doing. They don't have any idea what it's been like for me, these last two months and I know I didn't tell them and…awwwwww, just fuck it._

Penny sighed, while she was still upset, she needed to study her script and notes. She looked at the clock, finding she had a half an hour before she had to be in makeup. She walked over to her couch, picked up her script, sat down, and started looking it over.

 **Apt 4A 9:30 PM Tuesday December 18th 2012.**

Amy and Sheldon had gotten Chinese food for the night, and they had sat in the living room, with Leonard, talking while they ate. They asked Leonard what he knew about what would happen when he got to Oxford, with him explaining what was planned for him. After dinner, they had cleaned up, and Leonard had taken Amy into the bedroom, so she could measure the room, to see if her things would fit. Her and Sheldon were going to have to figure out where some of her stuff would go, and what went into storage, but they had some time to talk about that. Amy's lease would run until the first of the year, so she had some time.

Afterward, they had been talking about Sheldon's and Amy's work and a few other things, when Leonard looked at the clock and realized he needed to get to bed. It would be a busy day for him tomorrow. _Although_ , he thought, _I can get some sleep on the plane_. Sheldon was going on about a new idea for _Fun With Flags_ , when Leonard interrupted, "Hold on Sheldon," Leonard said, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop you, I need to get ready for bed, so I'm ready for the flight tomorrow."

Sheldon looked stricken, but recovered and said, "Of course Leonard."

Leonard walked toward Amy, who stood, and he looked at her. "Amy, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me over these last few months."

Tears were welling up in Amy's eyes, "I used to think you weren't all that bright and rather boring, tedious, I think I called you. But, you're really quite kind and helpful, and I've seen how you deal with Sheldon. That's helped me, and given me some insight, so for that I thank you."

"Hey…" started Sheldon.

"Be quiet Sheldon," said Leonard with a slight grin. "Well, I thought you were judgmental, sanctimonious, and just plain obnoxious those first few months. But, you've opened up, are caring in your own right, and have really became a wonderful woman. Take care of Sheldon for me. I'll miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too, Leonard," said Amy. "I'll think of you every time I hear that stupid chicken song." She took a step in, gave him a hug and whispered, "I'll take care of Sheldon, you take care of yourself, and keep in touch."

"I will," Leonard whispered back, "I have your numbers and email, and I'll be sending Sheldon my experimental results, so yeah, I'll keep in touch."

As they broke their hug, Amy was smiling through her tears. Leonard smiled back at her and said, "Take care, I'm sure we'll talk, sometime."

He took a step to her, giving her another hug, which she returned. After a few Mississippis, he broke the hug, said, "Goodbye, now," and turned to walked toward the bathroom, to prepared for bed, although he would be sleeping on the couch.

Amy and Sheldon watched him go, and when she turned to Sheldon, he looked anxious. Amy walked over to him and hugged him, and was surprised to get a hug back. After breaking the hug, she got her purse, said goodnight to Sheldon and left. Tears were streaming down her face as she walked down the stairs. _It's going to be different around here, without him._

 **Apt 4A 8:00 AM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

Leonard was standing at the kitchen island, drinking coffee out of a travel mug, waiting for Shledon to get up. It suddenly occurred to him, that this was his last cup, here in the apartment, and a feeling of sadness came over him.

Just then, Sheldon came out from the hallway, tying his robe. He stopped, and stared at Leonard. "Well, I suppose I won't ever see you standing there drinking coffee again."

"No, you won't Sheldon," said Leonard. He put his cup down and walked toward Sheldon. "I've got all my luggage in the car, except for my messenger bag. I'll drive over and leave my car for Howard to sell. I'll also have him return the mug."

He paused, then said, "I'm going to miss you Sheldon."

"I know," said Sheldon, …

 _Well that was typical Sheldon,_ thought Leonard, but then he heard

…"and I'm going to miss you."

 _And that wasn't,_ thought Leonard.

They both stood there, looking at each other, not knowing what to say. Finally, Leonard said, choking up, "I didn't think it was going to be this hard."

Although he didn't appear to show it, Leonard could tell Sheldon was affected also. "I…I'm not sure what to say Leonard," said Sheldon, "I've gotten accustomed to you being here. It will be difficult with you not here."

"You'll have Amy," said Leonard. "She'll be taking you where you need to go."

"But, she won't argue about Superman cutting Lois Lane in thirds when she fell, or about Wolverine's prostate, or any of the other things we've argued about over these nine years."

"I'm going to miss that also," said Leonard, "at least you still have the apartment here and I'm sure there will be things you two talk about."

"That's true," said Sheldon with a sad look on his face, "and you gave me the couch, with my spot on it but, it will be different without you."

Leonard was starting to tear up, and could even see tears starting in Sheldon's eyes. Sheldon was taking this harder than Leonard had imagined. Leonard was going to miss Sheldon. As much as he complained about Sheldon, he was his best friend, and leaving him was just one more hurt for Leonard.

"I'm going to miss you buddy," said Leonard walking to Sheldon and giving him a hug. Surprising Leonard, was the tight return hug Sheldon gave him.

"I'm going to miss you Leonard," said Sheldon. "I'll expect emails, and calls."

"You got it," said Leonard. "and I'll expect the same thing. Don't forget, we'll also be sending you info on the reflection shapes, and hopefully you will be able to work it out."

Leonard broke the hug. "I've got to go."

Sheldon nodded, "Of course."

Leonard could see the anguish in Sheldon's face, something he wasn't used to seeing. He walked over to the couch, picked up his bag and mug, then walked to the door. He stopped and turned, "Goodbye, Sheldon."

"Goodbye, Leonard," said Sheldon softly.

Leonard turned back, walked out of the apartment, and closed the door. He looked at 4B, sighed, and sadly started down the steps.

 **LAX 10:00 AM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

Leonard got the last of his luggage out of the trunk of Howard's car. Bernadette was standing next to him. He closed the trunk, and turned to Bernadette.

"Take care, Bernadette, and take care of Howard," said Leonard. Bernadette already had tears in her eyes, saying, "I will. I'm sorry all this had to happen."

"It's not your fault," said Leonard, "You tried to help, but the important thing, now, is to support Howard as he works to get his PhD."

"I know, and I will," said Bernadette, smiling through her tears, "You know, I'm really proud of him."

"I know," said Leonard, "I have to get going, so goodbye Bernadette, I have yours and Howard's emails and phone numbers, so I'll keep in touch."

Bernadette nodded, "Good, we'll get in touch with you also."

"You better go get Howard out here, before…"

Bernie practically jump on him, and gave him a very tight hug, sobbing. Leonard felt the tears forming and just hung on to Bernadette. After a few moments, Bernie broke the hug, and looking at Leonard, with tears running down her cheeks, said, "Goodbye, Leonard."

"Goodbye, Bernadette."

Bernadette turned and walked to the driver's side, let Howard out, and then got into the driver's seat.

Howard walked up to Leonard, and held out his hand, Leonard shook it, and said, "Ten years, Howard. You've changed, and you have a great wife, you take care of her, OK?"

"I'm going to miss you, Leonard," said Howard. "You let us know when you get to the different places, OK?"

"I will," said Leonard, "I don't want to let this go on. Between you two and Sheldon, I'm a wreck already."

"Got it," said Howard, "I have your car and the paperwork and as soon as I sell it, I'll send you the cash, same with your furniture. I hope everything works out for you over there. I guess this is it, goodbye, and take care."

"You too," said Leonard, "but a handshake is not going to do." Leonard enveloped him in a hug, which Howard returned. They broke, and Leonard walked up on the sidewalk, while Howard got into the car. Howard and Bernadette waved at him, he waved back and started pushing his cart into LAX. Howard and Bernadette, both with tears in their eyes, drove off.

 **Wolowitz Apartment 12:30 PM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

Bernadette answered the door, to find Raj there.

"Is Howard here?" he asked.

"No, he's not," said Bernadette. "He's at CalTech, working on some research for his thesis and project."

"Oh, OK," said Raj, "can I wait here until he gets back."

"No, sorry" said Bernadette, "in a few minutes, I'm leaving to go to my parents, so there won't be anyone home. I don't know when he's going to be back."

"Well, then tonight?"

"No, Howie and I are going out for dinner and then to a movie," said Bernadette.

"Oh, I guess I'll try tomorrow."

"I guess," said Bernadette, "but I'm not sure of his plans."

"I'll still try, maybe I'll call, first. Bye, Bernadette," said Raj as he walked away.

 **3:30 PM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

The plane had landed and Leonard had gathered his bag, and waited patiently as those in front of him exited the plane. He came out of the jetway, then tried to find a map of the airport. He had been there before, but that was a while ago and he didn't remember the path he took to get to his luggage. Finding a map, he looked it over, and finally started off in the right direction.

He took the escalator down to ground level, found the baggage carousel, grabbed a luggage cart, and waited for it to start. When it finally did, he quickly found his bags, loaded the cart and looked for the exit. Finding it, he walked outside, and started looking around. It wasn't too long before he saw a tall guy with a baseball cap, and graying hair waving at him. Leonard walked up to him, saw him extend his hand, and heard him say, "Leonard, my boy, it's so good to see you."

"Hello Wyatt," said Leonard, shanking his hand.

 **A/N Now, for something completely different, concerning reviews.**

 **I (like all fan fiction writers) love reviews, good, bad, or indifferent. It's how we get "paid", so to speak. Quite a few of you seem to enjoy my writing, for which I'm extremely grateful. I would like to point out that this is a prequel, so some of the things, in the story, have to be there because of what is in the original story. If you have a question about why something is happening, drop me a PM, and I'll try to explain it, as long as it doesn't give anything away** **.**

 **However, when it comes to reviews, I do have one rule. A negative or bad guest review, that doesn't at least try to be constructive, gets tossed. I don't mind bad guest reviews that are constructive, or helpful. Or, if you want to rant or complain about the story, just sign in and put your name on it. But if you want to just call me out about how bad you think my story is, and you don't have the balls to put your name on it, I don't feel the need to read the whole thing, or approve it.**

 **I've been getting some complaining or ranting guest reviews about some of the actions and reactions in this story ("Action A is just stupid."** **or "You're an idiot if you think Action A is realistic). and yes, note the quotation marks).** **I don't claim to be anywhere close to an award winning level (we're talking Golden Globes and Emmys), when it comes to writing.** **Interestingly, for me, a TV show (and a couple of movies) I saw this week, that have those award credentials, used some similar, or even the exact same actions and reactions that I've been getting complaints about, which has given me a few laughs.**

 **Thanks for reading, a special thanks to those who review, and sorry for the length of what I guess is a rant?**


	76. Chapter 75

**A/N Well, a bit of information. There are ten more numbered chapters to go, along with an epilogue. So, you'll get a chapter 85, then an epilogue, and the story will be finished. In this chapter, I pictured the house from my story The In-Law Initiation: Nebraska, for those scenes. I haven't been doing much writing lately, I've been cast in a play, and have been studying my lines. However, I've finished learning them, and now only have to review them for about 15 minutes a day. I will start working on my next story the week after Christmas. Onward to Nebraska…**

 **Chapter 75**

 **Omaha 8:30 PM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

Leonard was sitting in the living room, talking with Wyatt and Susan. It had taken an hour to get to the farm, from the airport, another hour for Leonard to get settled and unpacked, and by then, dinner was ready. After they had eaten, Wyatt and Susan had done the dishes before coming into the living room, where they sat down and the three of them watched TV and made small talk. Leonard was trying, for tonight anyway, to stay away from talking about Penny, for several reasons. First, he wasn't sure how much Wyatt and Susan knew. Second, he wasn't sure how he was going to start such a conversation.

At 9:30 he decided to go to bed, as it had been an early morning. He got up and excused himself and Wyatt also rose and walked with him to the stairs. Just before Leonard started up, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and Wyatt said, "Son, I kinda left the elephant in the room stay there tonight. But, I really want to talk to you about Penny."

"And I want to talk to you about it too," said Leonard. "But, I appreciate you not bringing it up. I'm really tired, it's been a long day, so how about some time tomorrow?"

"That sound's good," said Wyatt.

"How much do you know?" asked Leonard.

"Not much at all," said Wyatt. "All I got from Penny was that she broke up with you, but nothing about why. When you called and told me you were going to England, I took it as the breakup was simply too much for you."

Leonard nodded, "Something like that. It wasn't so much the breakup, but the memories. I may not be much help, as I don't know much more, but we'll talk tomorrow."

"Good night, Leonard."

"Good night, Wyatt," said Leonard, "I'll see you in the morning." Leonard turned and walked up the stairs, heading for bed. Wyatt sadly watched him go.

 **Apt 4A 6:00 PM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

Amy's phone rang and looking at it, she saw it was Bernadette. She hit accept and and said "Hello."

"Do you have a few minutes?" asked Bernadette.

"Yeah, but just a few, the food should be here any minute."

"I called Penny on Monday night, like you asked," said Bernadette. "I told her that her stuff was picked up, and then we got in a fight."

"Yeah, I know," said Amy, "she called me afterward. Why is she so angry at you?"

"I don't know, I was just trying to find out what was going on, I feel bad about getting angry at her, but she won't tell me what's going on."

"Yeah, I could tell she was upset with me, because I showed you the box," said Amy. "What is her problem?"

"I wish I knew," said Bernadette. "Maybe it's all tied into that other guy and breaking up with Leonard. Maybe something happened and she feels bad about it. Now I feel bad about pushing her, but it makes me mad that she won't tell us. I'm going to try and call her tomorrow, and see if she'll answer."

"Should I try?" asked Amy.

"Yes, you should," said Bernadette. "Between the two of us, we need to talk to her and find out what's wrong."

Bernadette heard a knock in the background, then, "I've to go," said Amy, "The food's here."

"OK, I'll let you go," said Bernadette. "Give me a call if you get in touch with her, and I'll do the same. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Oh, that's right, you and Howard are coming over," said Amy. "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, goodbye."

"Goodbye, Amy."

 **Apt 4A 8:00 PM Wednesday December 19th 2012.**

Amy was getting angry, but trying to stay polite. Sheldon and her had planned on talking about what things of Amy's, should go into Leonard's old room and what should go to storage. They also planned discussing where to go for date night tomorrow. But, just after dinner, Raj arrived, and had disrupted their plans. Raj and Sheldon were talking about the new comic books they had purchased. Amy was giving subtle hints that Raj should leave, but he either was ignoring her, or not understanding the hints.

Finally, after Raj changed the subject to when Sheldon planned on going to see the new Hobbit movie, Amy had had enough. She stood up and said, "I think it's time for you to go home."

"Amy," said Sheldon, "you're being rude."

"No, I'm not," said Amy. "We need to talk about moving my things, and what we're going to do tomorrow night. That's what we planned to do. We didn't invite Rajesh over so we don't need to keep talking to him."

Raj looked surprised, "I'm sorry Amy, I didn't know you had plans. I usually hang out with Howard and Bernadette, but with him trying to get his PhD…"

"What?" said both Amy and Sheldon.

"Yeah, he's taken enough classes to have the credits," said Raj, "and he's found a project and a thesis, that the university will accept. He's started a week or so ago."

"That's nice," said Amy, "but, that doesn't mean you can come over here and interrupt our nights."

"But, with Leonard and Penny gone," said Raj, "and Howard and Bernadette too busy to hang out with me, all I have left are you and Sheldon."

"Raj, we have things to do too," said Amy. "I'm moving into Leonard's old bedroom…"

"What?" said Raj. "You're moving in with Sheldon?"

"I'm moving into Leonard's bedroom," said Amy. "We will be roommates, like Sheldon and Leonard were." Amy was being very specific about this, as not to spook Sheldon. While Raj looked excited, Amy had to get him out.

"Now, we we're also supposed to talk about, and make plans for our date night tomorrow, and Sheldon has a new idea he'll be working on, and I've got a new project, with new monkeys, so we're going to be busy, ourselves."

Raj seemed to deflate, "I see," he said, "it seems no one want's me around."

Now Amy felt bad, "No, that's not it, Rajesh. We just have a lot to do. As do Howard and Bernadette. It's not that we don't want you around, it's just that we have other things we need to do."

Raj nodded, but looked depressed, "I'll make sure I call before I come over again."

"Thank you Rajesh," said Amy, "You have a good night."

"Thank you, I hope you both have a good night."

Raj got up and left. Amy looked sad and said, "I feel bad now."

"Why Amy?" said Sheldon, "you laid out cognizant reasons for him not to be here, or to call before he comes over. There's no reason for you to be sad."

"I suppose not," said Amy, "but, still…" She paused, then looked at Sheldon and said, "So, did you get my timeline for moving everything over here?"

"I did," said Sheldon, "I want some clarifications and have several counter-proposals." They both pulled their sheets out.

 **Apt 314 9:00 AM Thursday December 20th 2012.**

Penny heard the knock and went to the door. Looking out of the peephole, she saw it was Jeanie. She opened the door and invited her in.

"Do you want a cup of coffee," Penny said, as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Sure," said Jeanie. She walked in and sat at the table. Penny poured her a cup of coffee and brought it to the table, where her cup was. She handed it to Jeanie, and sat down.

"Aren't you leaving for Boston today?" said Penny.

"Yep, I am," said Jeanie. "But, I thought I'd stop by and ask if you wanted to come with me."

"No, I'll be OK."

"You sure?" said Jeanie. "Or, I could stay here."

"No, it's all right," said Penny, "I might go home for Christmas, so I may call home to set that up."

"Oh, I didn't know you were thinking about that," said Jeanie.

"I wasn't, but since I'm not going back to California, I thought maybe I'd see about going home, if it gets too bad here."

"OK, well, then I'll head back up, and finish packing," said Jeanie. "I'll leave here in about an hour."

"You can take the cup," said Penny, "just bring it back when you come back. You have a good trip and a good Christmas."

Jeanie rose and said, "Well, I'll be back by Sunday, remember my parents are going to Florida for Christmas."

"Oh, yeah," said Penny. She got up and gave Jeanie a hug. Jeanie hugged her back then walked to the door. She turned and waved and then left.

 **Omaha 1:30 PM Thursday December 20th 2012.**

They had eaten lunch, then Wyatt had gone out to the barn to do a couple of things. Leonard was now sitting in the kitchen with Susan, talking about the farm.

They heard the screen door slam, and Wyatt came walking in. He went to the fridge and pulled out the pitcher and poured a glass of tea, that he drank down quickly. He put the glass in the sink and said, "Hey, sweetie, I think the laundry in the dryer is finished."

Susan looked puzzled for a second, then her look changed to understanding, as she nodded and walked out of the kitchen. After she left, Wyatt grabbed two beers out of the fridge and said, "Leonard, how about we head out to the living room?"

They both walked out to the living room, with Leonard sitting on the couch. Wyatt handed Leonard a beer and then sat in his old recliner. Wyatt looked at Leonard for a few seconds, then said, "So, can you tell me what happened?"

Leonard took a deep breath, thinking about how to tell Wyatt he really didn't know what happened. Finally, he said simply, "I don't know. Things were going along great, we'd talk almost every day, she'd come home every couple of weeks, things were going fine." Leonard choked up, "I even bought an engagement ring."

He paused for a few seconds to gather himself, "Then, she quit calling, and wouldn't answer my calls. She wouldn't answer texts and only rarely called me back. When I did talk to her, she seemed distant, like she was bothered by talking to me. Then I caught her lying to me, and called her on it. Next thing I know, she writes me a letter breaking up with me. I tried to call her, to see what was wrong, but I never did get in touch with her. Then one of my other friends found a picture and an article about how she was now dating her costar. Another friend called Penny and there was a big fight."

"I couldn't find anything out, I was feeling so down, seeing her apartment every time I'd leave my apartment, and seeing all the places around Pasadena that we had been to. Then, the Christmas decorations went up. That really got to me, because I remembered how she helped make it a holiday for me, as it wasn't around my family. Finally, I just couldn't handle all the memories, so I took the job in England."

"Why England though?" asked Wyatt. "I would think you would try to find something in the US."

"I was working with someone there, I knew they had an opening and they offered me a good package, and some interesting research. I would have had to research other universities here in the states and look for open positions, so I simply accepted Oxford's offer." Leonard paused, looked at Wyatt, and asked, "Was Penny acting strange with you?"

Wyatt looked at Leonard sadly, "First off, Leonard, I'm really sorry all this happened to you. You're a really nice guy, and don't deserve this kind of treatment. I want to apologize to you."

"It's not your fault, Wyatt," said Leonard, "it's Penny's. It's her behavior that caused this, Not yours. I don't blame you."

"Still," said Wyatt, "she's my daughter, and I think there are reasons she's acted as she has. I just wanted to let you know, you don't deserve this."

"OK, I'll accept that," said Leonard, "but, I really want to know, was she acting strange when you talked to her?"

Wyatt looked deep in thought, for about 30 seconds, then said, "I'm trying to think, but we haven't really been in contact. Part of it, was that we had the harvest, along with selling and shipping of the crops, that took until just after Thanksgiving. So we were too busy to really talk, so I didn't think anything of her not calling."

"I wondered a bit, when we finally finished shipping the harvest, but there wasn't a lot of time before you called. After we talked and I invited you to stop here, I called her a couple of times, but didn't get any answers. I left a message or two, but she never called back."

Leonard nodded, "Sounds like what she did with me. You mentioned that there could be reason for her acting as she has. Can you tell me what reasons?"

Wyatt looked thoughtful, but didn't say anything.

"Wyatt," said Leonard, "I'm just trying to figure out if I could have done anything different."

Wyatt shook his head, "No, I don't think there is anything you could do about it. I hesitate to tell you, because I don't know if my thinking on this is valid. The reasons might have to do with how we raised her," said Wyatt. Seeing the confusion on Leonard's face, he said, "Let me explain. You know I wanted a boy, when we had Penny. I brought her up like a boy, sports, working on the farm, and, called her slugger. Unfortunately, she started acting like most guys do."

"You may have noticed that she's not really a romantic woman." He paused and watched Leonard nod. "You know she doesn't like to express her feelings, and can be scared of commitment. I'm not saying all guys are like that, but in my experience, guys are more likely to do that. When she started puberty," Wyatt looked sad, but continued, "I backed off on pushing sports and other 'boy' things. Basically, I just kinda stayed away from her, and I think it hurt her, but she kept everything in, so I didn't know."

"So, now," continued Wyatt, "she doesn't like to express her feelings, talk about problems, or like commitment. Not to mention, if you point out her flaws, she gets very defensive and doesn't want to talk about it, and she goes on the attack, deflection I think it is called. So, with all this, I don't think you could have done anything different. It's just who she is. I think it's because of what I did when she was younger. Like I said, I may be completely wrong on this, I'm obviously not a shrink, hell, maybe she should see one. But, it's why I apologized to you, I think it's partly my fault."

"It's not your fault, Wyatt," said Leonard, "she's an adult, she knows right from wrong, and she made her own choices."

"I wish I could see it that way, Leonard," said Wyatt, "but I'm going to think I had a part in it, because of how she was raised. As for what happened with her, I think something happened, something she did, that she thinks is terrible, and is afraid of you finding out. I read it as she had sex with that other guy you read about."

"Yeah," said Leonard, "that's what I think too."

"The way she can avoid telling you, is to not talk to you, or not tell you anything. At the extreme, she felt she had to break up with you, probably because she thinks she doesn't deserve you. She probably feels guilty, or feels ashamed and did it to try to not hurt you."

"This did hurt me," said Leonard, a short look of anger on his face. "And, not knowing is really rough."

"What I mean," said Wyatt, "is she thinks what happened will hurt you more than breaking up with you. It may not actually be like that, but from what you've told me, she's acting a lot like she did when she did something wrong, was ashamed of what she had done, and didn't want to tell Susan or I."

Leonard thought about all of this, then sighed. "I may very well be that, Wyatt. When she broke up with me the first time, she did it so I wouldn't get hurt more in the future, and she did mention not deserving me in the letter." Leonard paused, thinking, But, this is all just all speculation. Since you don't know anything, I don't think I'm ever going to find out what happened. So I'm just going to leave it, and try to move on with my life. Thank you for allowing me to stay for a couple of days, and talk to you about this."

"Anytime Leonard," said Wyatt, "if you ever come back this way, please feel free to call me and spend some time. Even though it doesn't appear that you will ever be part of the family, I feel a special connection to you. You are, after all, the only guy Penny's dated that I've approved of."

"Thank you, Wyatt."

"You want another beer?" asked Wyatt. "We're taking you out for dinner, and we have some time before we have to start getting ready."

"Yes, I do," said Leonard. "After we get back tonight, I've got to pack, cause I leave tomorrow."

"What are your plans?"

"I leave here and go to New Jersey, to see my parents, then to Boston, to see my brother, before leaving for England Christmas night. I'll miss my sister as she and her husband are in Europe."

"Well, let me get a couple more beers and tell Susan she can come back in. By the way, you know I'm going to tell Susan what's going on, right?"

Leonard got a small grin, "I figured you would. That won't be a problem"

Wyatt grinned back, took the bottle from Leonard, and walked toward the kitchen.

 **Apt 314 10:30 PM Thursday December 20th 2012.**

Penny was staring at the bottle. She had drunk only one glass tonight. She hadn't planned on drinking at all, but after the last call, and message Bernadette had left, she decided she needed one and was now thinking about have a few more.

Bernadette had called several times throughout the day, and Amy had called a couple of times. _Probably started out trying to tell me they were sorry. But, that last call and message from Bernadette. Who is she to yell at me that what I'm doing is wrong? Why would I even want to talk to her, if she's going to yell at me in a message? They had no problem looking through my stuff, and telling me everything I'm doing wrong and I don't need a repeat of that. I know I fucked it up, and I've got to deal with the problems I've caused, but I don't want to hear them ordering me around or telling me how wrong I am, it just makes me feel worse._

 _I wish Jeanie was here. She's been taking care of me, she's been a really good friend._ _What would I have done without, Jeanie? She's the one that's helped me get to where I am, she's the one that helped me with Brent._ _I wonder if there is any reason to go back. My stuff is packed, Leonard is gone, and all I've done with with Bernadette and Amy, is to argue with them. It's not fair to them, to get them mad every time I talk to them._ _Awwwwww, hell, I'm tired and I can't think straight, I'll think about it some more tomorrow._

Penny decided not to have any more drinks. She got up, put her glass in the sink, and walked toward the bathroom, to prepare for bed.


	77. Chapter 76

**A/N There's a bit of a milestone with this chapter. The story goes over 250k words with this chapter. Going back over the story (I reread it every couple of weeks, to make sure I'm consistent and maintain continuity), if I were to do it again (or if I edit it), there are quite a few places where I would cut back, or re-write to make it shorter, for example, maybe there was too much detail about the show. Anyway, onward.**

 **Chapter 76.**

 **Omaha Airport 10:30 AM Friday December 21th 2012.**

Leonard had said thanks and goodbye to Susan, before he and Wyatt had left the farm at 8:30 AM. Upon arriving at the airport, they had found a restaurant just outside of security and were now finishing up their breakfast. They had paid their bill, and were sitting there, finishing their coffee.

"I really don't know what to tell you Leonard," said Wyatt. "Except I would like to keep in touch with you."

"I don't know Wyatt," said Leonard. "It might be too painful, as it might remind me of Penny. After I've moved on, well, maybe, but I'll be in Europe. So, all I can say is I can try, but if it's too much…I…I just don't know."

"I understand," said Wyatt. There was silence for a few seconds, and then he continued, "So, what's happening next?"

"Well, like I told you, I fly to New York, then drive to Princeton, to see my parents, separately as they're divorced. After that, I fly to Boston, to see my brother. On Christmas Day, I fly to JFK, and have a four hour layover, before I fly out to England at 8:00 PM. After that, it's going to depend on what Oxford has planned for me, and my housing arrangements, in England."

"You're going to be in New York?" asked Wyatt, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, but I'm just passing through," said Leonard. "And, no, I'm not going to try to call her. I only have four hours, and that will be at JFK."

"But, why, if you…"

"Wyatt," said Leonard sadly, "she hasn't answered any calls from me since the letter. I'm leaving the country, and even if she answered, it would be over an hour before she could get to the airport. It's just better if I don't try to contact her."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Leonard," said Wyatt. "Except, live your life. You can't blame yourself."

"I know," said Leonard. He looked at his watch and said, "I've got to get going Wyatt. I have about another hour and a half, and have to get through security and it looks like there's quite a line."

They both rose and started walking. When they got to security, Leonard turned and held out his hand, "Thank you Wyatt. For everything you've done."

"Take care son," said Wyatt, "and thank you for trying again, I still think you're a keeper. It's a shame it didn't work out, but that's not your fault. Besides, I have a feeling that this isn't over."

Leonard sadly shook his head and said, "I can't see any way back Wyatt. It would take years and some extraordinary circumstances, for things to work out now, and I can't currently see a way for it to happen."

"I understand," said Wyatt, "Take care, Leonard."

"Goodbye Wyatt," said Leonard, "take care."

They shook hands one more time, then Leonard turned and walked toward the security line. Getting there he turned and seeing Wyatt looking, waved at him. Wyatt waved back, then turned and left.

 **Apt 314 1:30 PM Friday December 21th 2012.**

Penny had woken up with a hangover, but after getting a shower, and some coffee, had felt better. She had then fixed herself breakfast and while she ate, and for the rest of the morning, she, again, started thinking about her situation. She had been going over things in her mind for the last couple of days, but she really hadn't solved the problem at work, with Brent and his friends. While Jeanie had been accompanying her around, she didn't think keeping her as a body guard was really a solution.

She was still feeling depressed about breaking up with Leonard. Along with the guilt and shame for what had caused it, in her mind there was an overall feeling of worthlessness, how she was just a slut. Worst of all, she was missing him terribly, and that was all her fault, no one else's. If she had just talked to him, she might not be in this situation. but she hadn't talked to him, she broke up with him, so she only had herself to blame. With all that, there was a new problem. Bernadette and, to a lesser extent, Amy were mad at her, not that she could blame them. She had been a bitch to both of them, and she was sure, that in their minds anyway, they were just trying to help her. But, they hadn't stopped pressing her about what had happened, even when she asked them to stop.

All this had been running through her head, for the last week and no kind of resolution had come to her. She had managed to keep from drinking, except for that glass last night, but after thinking about everything since Tuesday, she had gotten more and more depressed. Penny sighed, feeling today was going to be the same as the last few days. The only break from the routine had been Jeanie stopping by, before she left for Boston. Penny had been thinking a lot of Jeanie during these days. She'd been helpful and kind to Penny, something Penny still couldn't believe, considering that Penny was just starting out.

She felt the walls closing in on her and felt she had to get out of the apartment for the day, deciding to go sightseeing. She left the apartment, and spent some time at Rockefeller Center watching the skaters, and looking at the Christmas tree, then took the NBC Studios Tour. It was fun seeing other studios, set up differently than her own studio, especially now that she had experience and knew what she was looking at. She also got to take a tour of the theatre, where David Letterman's show was shot. She thought it was fun, seeing it from the audience side, instead of being on the stage. Some other people, in the tour, had recognized her, and asked for autographs.

 **JFK Airport, NY 2:30 PM Friday December 21th 2012.**

Leonard left the rental car parking lot and followed the signs to get out of JFK, and then found the entrance to the Belt Parkway. He would be on this for about 20 minutes, before getting on the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. This would lead him to the New Jersey Turnpike, and then on to Princeton. He would drive for about an hour, before stopping for lunch in New Brunswick, at a small cafe he had eaten at on prior visits. After lunch, he would continue to the Hyatt Regency, near Princeton.

He had called his mother and father at the airport to set up a meeting with them. The call to his mother went as expected, she had been cold toward him, but agreed to meet him for lunch. The call to his father went much better. His father seem genuinely glad to hear from him, and said he was looking forward to meeting him tomorrow, for dinner. He did a quick calculation and figured out he would get in around three, and he looked forward to a nap before dinner. After dinner, he needed to call Howard and Bernadette, as he promised. Then, see his parents tomorrow, before flying to Boston on Sunday. He settled in for the drive and found he only had about 2 miles before the bridge.

 **Apt 314 8:30 PM Friday December 21th 2012.**

Penny had gotten back to her apartment just after 4:30 PM, glad that she had gotten out of the apartment for a little bit. After thinking about all of her problems, over the last few days, being able to not think about them, while sightseeing today, was a big relief for her. However, now that she was home, all those thoughts came flooding back. In addition, with no one else there, she felt all alone, dreading the night. She felt she needed to drink, to keep those thoughts and feelings away. She knew she only had a half a bottle, and decided a run to the grocery store, was what she needed for tonight.

So, Penny had gone to the store, and after returning made and ate dinner, then cleaned up. She then started watching TV, and drinking wine. It was several hours later, when she heard Bernadette's ringtone, from her phone. Penny had seen that she had called several times today, and there were several more calls from Amy. They must be really desperate to talk to her. They had both left messages asking Penny to call them, but Penny had no desire to talk to them tonight. She had had a good day, and if the last few calls were any indication, she didn't want to end her good day with a fight or being told what she was doing was wrong or what she should do.

Around 10 PM, after two bottles, she decided to go to the bathroom to finish her usual rituals, before going to bed. She had been struggling to get to sleep over the last few days, because her mind would keep going over everything that had happened in the last few months. But, tonight, the alcohol and being tired, allowed Penny to fall asleep quickly.

 **Princeton, NJ 8:30 PM Saturday December 22th 2012.**

Leonard was driving back to his hotel, from dinner with his father. It had been an interesting day for him. He had lunch with his mother, and the meeting with her went exactly how he had expected it to go. She was cold, distant, and offered no congratulations for the new position and the large raise.

She seem to be more interested in who he had talked to, for comfort, after Penny broke up with him. She was disappointed that he didn't reach out to anyone in the family, and seemed upset, that he didn't want to talk to her about it.

After a tense, 45 minutes together, Leonard had managed to end the lunch and say goodbye to his mother. He had even been able to give her a short hug, but the lunch and hug had been so exhausting to him, he decided to take a nap that afternoon, before seeing his father.

The dinner with his father, was much more enjoyable. His father had offered condolences about the breakup, then when Leonard asked, talked about finding complete skeletons of an Etruscan family. He explained to Leonard how this was helping him with his ideas of the Etruscans, now that he had been able to study more than a single young male. This had caused a struggle in Leonard, as he really hated the Etruscan boy his father had worked with during Leonard's childhood, and didn't want to hear any more about it. However, the descriptions, and his father's ideas, about the family were interesting to Leonard.

Afterward, his father had asked about Leonard's work, both experimental and theoretical and seemed genuinely interested. While Leonard explained his work, and how his experiments may lead to a theoretical breakthrough, they had finished dinner. They ordered desert, and as they ate it, his father had congratulated Leonard for his position and raise and told him he was proud of him. He also told Leonard that he regularly flew through London, on his way back from Italy, and asked Leonard if he wanted to know when, so they could meet up. This was something unexpected, but this had made Leonard happy and he readily agreed.

It was shortly after that, after some warm goodbyes, that Leonard left to go back to his hotel. Upon arriving, he took out his clothes for tomorrow and pack the clothes he was wearing, away. He planned on leaving here at 10 AM, stopping for lunch during the drive, and getting to his terminal at JFK around noon, for his 2 PM flight.

He set everything, but his toiletries near the door, then went to take a shower. Finished with that, he made his usual preparations for bed and got to bed rather early. He decided this was better, knowing tomorrow was going to be a long day. As he laid there, trying to get to sleep, it was disconcerting to him, that he kept thinking about Penny.

 **Apt 314 9:30 PM Saturday December 22th 2012.**

Penny looked at the clock and decided it was time. She had spent all day thinking about how the conversation with Bernadette was going to go. She felt bad about the previous call, but was going to stand her ground, telling Bernadette she needed to stop bugging her about what had happened, because she didn't know the full story.

She had poured a glass of wine, and after sitting at the table, selected Bernadette's number and hit call. After two rings she heard Bernadette say, "Is that you Penny?"

"Yeah, it's me," said Penny.

"Wait a minute," said Bernadette. Penny could hear Bernadette in the background, "Amy, come on…just come with me…will you quit asking questions, just come with me. Just don't ask Howard, I'll tell you later."

Penny heard steps, a door close and then Bernadette say, "Amy, Penny's on the phone."

"She is?"

'Yeah, hold on why I put her on speaker."

"Penny can you hear us?"

"Yes, I can," said Penny, "are you over at the apartment for dinner?"

"Yes she is," said Amy, "her and Howard are helping me move into my new bedroom, well Leonard's old bedroom."

"What?" exclaimed Penny. "You moved in with Sheldon?"

"Well, kind of," said Amy, "Leonard suggested I move into his room, to help Sheldon get over his leaving. But, he told me later, that he also was trying to help Sheldon get used to having me live with him. So hopefully it will be permanent."

"How was Leonard?"

"What does it matter?" said Bernadette. "He's gone now, so it doesn't matter, does it?"

Penny choked up, the statement, while true, had hurt her and had made her a bit angry. "What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"Well, why does it matter?" said Bernadette. "He's gone and won't be back, so asking about him, really doesn't matter. But, I'll tell you. He was so down about the whole thing, he was a total wreck. And, it's because of you."

Penny knew she was right, she beat herself up enough because of it, so she didn't need to be reminded of it. _Why does Bernadette keep hounding me about it?_ "Well, I still care about him."

"I don't see how you could care," said Bernadette, "you're the one that did this to him."

"I know that," said Penny bitterly. "Yes, I fucked up. Yes, I've been a bitch. Yes, I'm a damn slut. I know all of that. But, I don't need the two of you reminding me of it all the time."

"Well," said Amy, "from what he said, he left because of you. Because you wouldn't talk to him, and you wouldn't tell him what was going on. So why didn't you tell him?"

Penny felt she was being double-teamed, and she didn't like it. She didn't want to fight with them, "Look, I feel bad enough, I know I handled it badly. But, he made the decision to leave."

"Yeah," said Bernadette, "he left because what you did, drove him to it. He couldn't deal with all the places around here that made him think of you."

"I'm sorry," said Penny softly, "but it was still his decision to leave."

"While true," said Amy, "if you hadn't broken up with him, he wouldn't have been so down about remembering the two of you together, and he wouldn't have had to leave. So why did you break up with him?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Penny.

"And we're back to you not talking," said Bernadette. "And to think, I told him to go and get you."

"What?" said Penny.

"I told him to go get you," said Bernadette. "And he said no, he didn't want to spoil your dream. I even asked him what about his dream about being with you, and he said you being happy was his dream."

Upon hearing this, Penny started crying.

"He didn't want to risk running into you and Brent, and make it embarrassing for you. Yeah, he saw the article," said Bernadette accusingly. "He knows about you and Brent. But, you wouldn't talk to him, you wouldn't tell him you were seeing someone else, you just left him hanging."

"I couldn't," hollered Penny, "because there was nothing to tell. I told you, you don't understand."

"Well, then tell us," said Amy.

Penny was getting frustrated with both of them. She had told them not to push her on this, but they kept it up.

"I told you before," said Penny, "I can't tell you the whole story. But, I am not seeing Brent. So, forget that article and just get off my back."

"Well, isn't that nice of you," said Bernadette sarcastically, "you're not dating Brent. Well, in that case, all you did was to treat your boyfriend like shit, wouldn't tell him what was going on, and then break up with him by letter. Is that about it?"

"Damn you, damn you," said Penny, tears again starting, knowing it was true.

"That wasn't an answer Penny," said Amy.

"You know what," said Penny softly, with a sob. "Bernadette, all you're doing is pushing me on this. I've asked you to stop, but you don't. Please don't push me, I don't need that…"

"But, Penny, it's you who need…" started Amy.

Penny continued over her, " Look, I'm beating myself up about it, as it is, and I don't need you two to do that. I know you're trying to help, but it's just making me feel worse. I asked you to stop, but you keep on pushing me. I'm trying to move on, but you keep bringing it up. Leonard definitely has moved on, after all, he left. But, it's you two that can't seem to move on."

Penny paused, "All we do lately, on our calls is fight. You push me, even though I tell you not to, then we fight. I don't want to fight with you anymore, it's not fair to you. The only way I can see us not fighting, is by not talking to you, anymore. Goodbye."

Amy and Bernadette heard the call disconnect and they looked at each other. Did she really mean that? They weren't sure, but they both knew they would try to call her again.

 **Apt 314 10:00 PM Saturday December 22th 2012.**

Penny threw the phone into a cushion on the other end of the couch, then pulled the closest cushion into her arms, and cried into the cushion. After a half hour she calmed down, blew her nose, and wiped her eyes.

 _They didn't understand, how can the keep blaming me like that. OK, yeah, I treated Leonard horribly, and breaking up with him that way wasn't right. It is my fault, but they don't know how hard this has been for me. And, why do they keep bringing it up? If they are going to push me like that, we're just going to end up fighting, and I just don't want to to that anymore. They don't deserve that and I can't take it. Jeanie doesn't do that, she helps me. But, she won't be back until after Christmas._

Penny looked around the apartment, and felt lonely. _I don't want to spend Christmas alone, I'll call my dad and go home._ Penny looked at the clock and saw it was almost 11:30 PM. _10:30 in Omaha, and my parents go to bed at ten. I'll call tomorrow, it's not like it's an emergency._

Penny was feeling down, so she walked into the kitchen and poured another glass. She then took another bottle out of the fridge, knowing it would be more than one bottle again, tonight.

 **JFK 1 PM Sunday December 23th 2012.**

Leonard finally arrived at JFK, about an hour late, but he found the lot to turn in his rental car. He had left as he planned at 10 AM this morning, and after a half hour of driving, stopped for brunch. It had taken him about 45 minutes at the cafe, then he continued the drive to JFK looking to get in at noon, as he planned.

Unfortunately, there had been one wreck on the Jersey Turnpike, and another on interstate 95, approaching Staten Island. _Why can't Jersey drivers drive?_ he thought. The backed-up traffic had him running later than he planned.

He had turned in his car, and by the time he checked his luggage, and made it to his gate, they were boarding the aircraft. He had had to use his inhaler twice, before getting to the gate. Now, he boarded the aircraft, and sort of collapsed into his seat, used his inhaler one more time, and was just happy he had made it in time.


	78. Chapter 77

**A/N Hey, do all of you remember way back to the prologue, where Leonard fell into a reverie about what had gone wrong? Well, this chapter, finally, reconnects back to the Prologue. There are a couple of things that are mentioned there, that are mentioned here. Feel free to go back and reread it, to refresh your memory. One other thing, I've started writing my next story. I had been jotting down notes and ideas, but I actually started writing this week. And since its from season 12, I've been re-watching some episodes, at least those that fit into my story.**

 **Chapter 77**

 **Apt 314 2:30 PM Sunday December 23th 2012.**

Penny was finally feeling better. She had woken up with another hangover, and had taken a couple of aspirins, and drank several bottles of water. She then made the coffee and while it was brewing, went to get a shower. Now, three cups of coffee later, she was at least functioning. _I've got to stop drinking so much_. She got up and poured another cup, and took it back to her couch and placed it on the coffee table. Then she sat down on the couch, and picked up her phone. She was sure her dad would agree to her coming home. She selected the number and listened to the ringtone, and then a male voice answer, "Hello."

"Hi Daddy," said Penny.

"Hi Slugger," said Wyatt happily, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," said Penny. "Is mom there?"

"No, she's out, doing some last-minute shopping," said Wyatt. "How's the big star doing?"

Penny winced, "I'm doing OK, I guess."

"Something bothering you?" asked Wyatt, sounding concerned.

"Yeah, but it's not important," said Penny.

"Does it have to do with you breaking up with Leonard?" asked Wyatt.

Penny was stunned, "I…er…I…um…a how did you know?"

"He was here a few days ago," said Wyatt. "He's on his way to England. He's leaving out of New York, on Christmas Day."

Penny was silent, as she didn't know what to say. It was a bit of a shock to know Leonard stopped and talked to her dad.

"He was pretty tore up about it," said Wyatt. "He asked if you had mentioned any problems you were having, or if I had noticed any change in you. I told him I didn't."

"Well, I hadn't called."

"Uh-huh, after he asked," said Wyatt, "I went back to when he said you stopped calling him, and I noticed you had quit calling us too. I didn't notice, until I checked because it was during harvest and right after, when we were scrambling around, trying to find buyers for our crops…"

"Um…yeah, I guess."

"So, what is going on?" asked Wyatt.

"I'd rather not talk about it, Daddy," said Penny.

"Why not?"

"Because I…I don't want to think about it, and I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on Slugger," said Wyatt, "let it out, you'll feel better."

"NO, Daddy," said Penny, "I told you I didn't want to talk about it. Can't you just leave it alone? My girlfriends keep after me about it and all we do is fight when they call. I don't want to fight with you. Besides, if you knew we had broken up, why did you let Leonard stop and see you?"

"He told me you two had broken up," said Wyatt. "I was just trying to find out what was going on, because I hadn't heard from you. And, like I said, he was pretty broken up about it."

Again, a wince, "Well, I wasn't too happy about it myself."

"So what happened?"

"Daddy, I told you I don't want to talk about it."

"I mean," started Wyatt, "he was very good for you. He's intelligent, kind, and he was so patient about you two getting married. You even straightened your life up. So, what was so wrong that you broke up with him? And, I have to say, that not telling him directly, was really terrible. A letter, really?"

Tears started forming in her eyes, "Daddy, please…"

"I'm sorry Slugger," said Wyatt, "there's something going on here, that you're not telling me. I could tell you were hiding things when you were living here and I can tell now."

"I can't, Daddy," Penny choked out, "I just can't."

"Why not?"

Penny suddenly realized that if she went home, her dad would continue asking questions, pressing her for answers, or keep telling her how good Leonard was. Her mother would also be trying to find out what happened, thinking it would help. Penny felt she just couldn't face the constant questioning, or worse, her breaking down and them finding out she cheated on Leonard.

"I've got to go, Daddy," said Penny, holding back the sobs. "Tell Mom, I love her, and to have a Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you, I love you."

"Hold on Slugger," said Wyatt, "can't you stay on for a bit longer? You could always come home for Christmas, so you don't have to be alone."

"No, I'm sorry, I have to go," said Penny. "Jeanie will be here, so I won't be alone."

"Please sweety," said Wyatt, "just come on home, we'll take care of you. Maybe even help you work though whatever's bothering you."

Penny didn't feel she could chance them finding out, "No, Daddy, I'll be fine," said Penny. "I have to go."

"Well, I guess, if you have to," said Wyatt, sounding puzzled. "Merry Christmas to you then, and you take care of yourself, OK?"

"I will Daddy. Merry Christmas, and tell Mom Merry Christmas. I'll give you a call after New Year's day. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Penny disconnected and then let the phone drop out of her hand. She covered her eyes and broke down crying.

 **Harvard Square Hotel 6:30 PM Sunday, December 23th 2012.**

Leonard's plane had landed at 4:00 PM, and instead of renting a car, he had taken a cab to his hotel, arriving around 4:30. After taking a shower and doing a bit of unpacking, he called his brother. They had talked for about ten minutes, arranging for Leonard to come to the house tomorrow, late in the morning. The hotel was only about two blocks from his brothers house, which is why he chose this hotel, and taken a cab, instead of renting a car. He would walk there, talk for a bit, then he would go to lunch with his brother and his family, and then would go back to his brother's house for the rest of the afternoon.

He was looking out the window and couldn't help but notice the snow. The snow brought to mind the snowflake he had gotten Penny and he couldn't help thinking about it. Not really wanting to go out into the snow, he decided to order from room service for dinner, and just stay in and try to watch television for the night. He knew he would now be thinking about Penny, for the rest of the night.

 **Apr 314 NY 9:30 PM Sunday December 23th 2012.**

Penny poured the last of the second full bottle of wine, into the glass. After the phone call to her dad, she had continued crying, hating herself for what happened with Brent, for not talking to Leonard, for not telling Amy and Bernadette, and now for not telling her dad. She also felt all alone. And, except for Jeanie being in Boston, it was all her fault. She's the one that screwed everything up. It was her fault, no one else's and all her friends and especially Leonard were better off without her.

She tried to stay away from the wine, but after dinner, when her thoughts were still the same, she couldn't take it any longer and took an opened bottle out of the fridge, to try to drink enough to forget. She finished the first half-empty bottle after two quick glasses, and knowing she needed more, she opened up a second bottle and then a third. By the time she finished the third bottle, she was quite drunk, but still thinking. The problem was she was now drunk, and wasn't thinking right.

 _Why can't Amy, Bernadette and my dad just let this be? Why do they have to keep pushing me, yelling at me to tell them? Jeanie doesn't push me, she tried to let me work it out, but now she's helping. Walking with me to work, staying with me, so Brent and his friends don't bother me. And she doesn't yell at me, like Amy and Bernadette do. She's so good to me._

In her drunken stupor, she had forgotten Jeanie had also pushed her, much more than her other friends had. Pushed her enough that she had told Jeanie what had happened.

 _I even forgot to get Jeanie a Christmas present. I can go tomorrow. Wait, she's coming back tomorrow, or was it today? P_ enny shook her head trying to remember, but her train of thought went back to the presents. _I can get her some body-wash, candles and a couple of other things. She's been so good to me. Teaching me everything, showing me how to do things on set, all of that. Why is she so nice to me, when I'm such a stupid bitch and a nobody?_

Penny finished off the glass, and was really feeling the alcohol now. Between being drunk and also feeling tired, Penny decided to go to bed. She brushed her teeth, took off her clothes and fell onto the bed. She was asleep within minutes.

 **Harvard Square Hotel 6:30 PM Monday December 24th 2012.**

Leonard hung up the phone after ordering dinner from room service. He took a beer from the small fridge and sat on the couch to wait for dinner, thinking over his day.

As expected, it was an awkward day. They had different interests when they were younger, this was the main reason they had not interacted much when they were younger. His brother had also picked up a personality like his mother, cold and distant. Although, he was not outright mean, like their mother. Also, from their discussions, he liked their mother even less than Leonard did. Interestingly, he had bonded with their father, much more than Leonard had. His wife was more welcoming, and his niece and nephew were inquisitive, since he hadn't met them before. They talked for a couple of hours about where Leonard was going, along with Leonard catching up on his brother's family's life.

They had gone for lunch, came back and talked for a while. The snow had stopped overnight and now it was clear and warm for December. They took a walk to Cambridge Common, and let the children play for a bit. After returning, Leonard noticed their conversation had become even more stilted than it had been, and Leonard decided it was better if he left. He said his goodbyes, the kids and his brother's wife giving him a hug. He reached out to shake his brother's hand, but his brother enveloped him in a hug. This was a surprise to him, but his brother wished him good luck, before giving him a handshake when Leonard left.

Leonard was thinking about what he needed to pack before leaving in the morning. He had already checked his carry-on, making sure all his paperwork, and his passport, were in there, with his computer. He was glad he had his laundry sent out when he arrived, it was now back and was packed. There was a knock on the door and he opened it. His dinner was brought in and set up. He tipped the guy who brought it, sat down to eat and while he ate, again went over his itinerary for the next day, and thought about the long flight he had tomorrow night.

 **Apt 314 9:30 PM Monday December 24th 2012.**

Jeanie Corbett left the elevator on the third floor, pulling her bag after her. She had just gotten back to New York, after spending some time with her mother and father in Boston. Remembering what had happened when she didn't check on Penny the previous week, she wanted to stop and see how she was doing. She stopped in front of her door, and knocked. There was no answer, so she knocked harder. She could hear the TV, and was now worried Penny had been drinking.

She rang the doorbell and knocked harder. She heard a 'thump', and then a loud, "Fuck, just a minute." It was a few seconds later that the door opened and Penny was standing there, holding her shin.

"Oh, Jeanie, you're back," said Penny, as she fell onto Jeanie, wrapping her up in a hug. Jeanie was surprised, and hugged back for a few seconds, but Penny didn't let go.

Jeanie maneuvered them into the apartment, bringing her bag in, then reached back and closed the door. Penny finally let go, and said, "Come on in. I thought you weren't getting back until after Christmas." Jeanie watch Penny stumble and weave into the apartment, pause, then turn to the right, before turning around, and almost falling, trying to get to the couch.

Jeanie pulled her bag behind her as she followed Penny to the living room. She could see three bottles on the table, but she didn't know if Penny had drunk three bottles or had finished one, and had more in another. Either way, Jeanie felt she had to stay here tonight, and watch Penny tomorrow, and try to get her off of the wine. Jeanie had gotten Penny a few small gifts, and would give them to her tomorrow. But for now, she was going to have to get Penny to bed. So, she sat down, and looking at Penny, said, "So, what's bothering you tonight?"

 **Boston Logan Airport 11:30 AM Tuesday December 25th 2012.**

Leonard was eating lunch in Terminal 2, he had another hour and a half before boarding started. He was going over his schedule, that he had written it out. The flight would be getting into New York around 3:00 PM, and he would have to get his luggage and then check in for the evening flight. He would have just over a four-hour layover, before his flight to London. He was thinking about calling Penny, but he wasn't sure there was any reason to actually call her. He finished his breakfast and was drinking coffee, waiting for his check. He waved at the waitress at the next table.

As she approached, he notice she was attractive, blond, with high cheekbones and green eyes. He asked her to get his waitress. She mentioned that his waitress was on a break, and if he needed anything she would get it for him. He asked for some more coffee and the check and the woman left. She was back shortly, laying the check down on the table, then she started pouring some more coffee. As she poured the coffee, her hair fell over her face, causing her to miss the cup she was pouring in. She spilled coffee all over the table, soaking the check. She apologized to Leonard telling him she wasn't very good as a waitress, and brushed her blond hair out of her face saying she'd write out another check. As she walked off, Leonard looked sadly at her, having been reminded of Penny. He sighed, then shook his head to clear it, and went back to studying his schedule.

 **Apt 314 3 PM Tuesday December 25th 2012.**

Jeanie had spent last night in Penny's apartment, after finding Penny very drunk. She had tried to talked to her, but she was crying and really incoherent. She got Penny to bed, then made up the couch herself. As she laid there, she thought how much easier it would be, if they were at Jeanie's apartment. After all, she had an extra bedroom.

Penny had been hungover this morning, but after some water, aspirin, and a shower, she seemed to be functioning. Jeanie and Penny had traded gifts. Jeanie had to laugh when they found they had gotten each other the same gifts. A pair of earrings each, the same basket of bath soap, and gift certificates, for a manicure and pedicure. After the presents they had made breakfast, and watched a couple of Christmas movies.

For dinner they were planning on going out for Chinese food. Although she wasn't Jewish, Jeanie started explaining about Jews, Chinese Food and Christmas, but Penny stopped her. She had learned all about that from Howard. After dinner, they were planning on coming home and watching some more Christmas movies, until they went to bed. It appeared to Jeanie that she would be able to keep Penny from drinking today, but she was going to stay the night again.

 **JFK 5:00 PM Tuesday December 25th 2012.**

Leonard shook his head and looked around, realizing he was in the first class lounge where he gotten a beer two hours earlier. After arriving from Boston, he checked in and checked his luggage, with British Airways. He gave a short laugh as he realized the reverie, had come to an end. He remembered getting through security, finding the first class lounge, and ordering a beer. He then walked to a table, and had been watching the planes land and take off. But now, it was almost dark and he could only see the lights of the planes, not the entire plane.

He called the waitress over to order dinner. He figured he better eat, as there was only a snack around ten PM, this time, and breakfast around seven AM, English Time, before getting in at nine, the next morning. He ordered a steak dinner, baked potato, a salad, and another Guinness. While he ate, he was thinking about tomorrow. He had been told he would be spending the night in a hotel, then on Thursday, Geoff would pick him up and take him to Oxford, but Geoff hadn't been specific about either the hotel or what was next after that. _I suppose he'll take me to get my paperwork done, show me my rooms, where I can eat, all that. Hopefully, I'll get my office and I can start setting that up, start planning for my courses, and just get settled in._

He had finished eating, then saw German Chocolate cake was on the desert menu, and ordered it. He finished his cake and looked at his watch, and found it was 6:30 PM. He had about 30 minutes before they would start boarding, so he called for his check and when the waitress brought it, he paid for it with his credit card, added a tip and got up. He picked up his bag, then walked toward the entrance of the lounge.

As he exited, he noticed the ad board he had ignored earlier on his way into the lounge. Then, the ad was for the musical, _Cinderella._ This time, on the reverse side of the board, he saw a large picture of Penny, as Jessica Rogers, with an ad for the new CBS series "Major's Tales", and touting Penelope Jensen, as the "Favorite New Star". Leonard stopped and looked at the picture, and started to choke up, tears forming in his eyes. He wiped his eyes, wanting to stay and just look at her, but knew he had to go. Before leaving, he took a last look at the picture, and said, "Goodbye Penny, I'll always love you. I just can't be with you." Tears were falling from his eyes, as Leonard turned and hurried away from the board, heading toward his gate.


	79. Chapter 78

**A/N This chapter (and the next two chapters, over the next two weeks) will go up about an hour to an hour and a half before my normal noon posting time. My play is currently running and Sundays are matinees, so I have to leave around the time I normally publish. To keep you all from waiting, I'll publish an hour or so early. With this chapter, Leonard has arrived in the UK. There is another author's note at the end, to explain some things in this chapter.**

 **Chapter 78**

 **London, 9:00 AM Wednesday December 26th 2012.**

Leonard had come off the plane, feeling a little stiff, but not really tired. He was glad he had upgraded to first class, as he had been able to lay his seat flat, and get some sleep, before getting the snack on the plane, then another three hours of sleep, before breakfast. As a result, he wasn't feeling like a complete wreck. He found his luggage and put it on the dolly, pushing it toward the customs entrance. As he had nothing to declare, he went toward the green entrance, then waited in line. Finally, when called to the counter, he explained he was going to be working at Oxford. The woman at the counter gave him the paperwork to apply for a Tier 2 work visa.

Leonard entered the sponsor number on the forms and provided the woman with the documents Geoff had sent him. He also gave her his bank statement showing he had enough money to support himself for a while, along with his statement from the Pasadena police, verifying he hadn't broken any laws. He also handed over the salary offer from Oxford. He wasn't quite sure why that was required, but Geoff had told him it was part of the visa requirement. His US passport guaranteed he met the English-speaking requirement. He filled everything out, then waited while everything was checked, and finally he was handed his passport back, with the visa allowing him to work in the UK. He thanked the woman, pushed his cart to the inspection station, and the person there looked at his passport, his visa, and waved him through.

He looked at his watch and found it was noon. The time, and his rumbling stomach, made him think about getting some lunch. As he left the building, he was looking for somewhere he might eat, when he saw Geoff waving to him. Leonard was surprised to see him, but pushed his cart toward him.

"Geoff," said Leonard, "what are you doing here? You weren't supposed to come and get me until tomorrow."

"Yes," said Geoff, "I know, but today is Boxing Day, so there wouldn't have been anyone, at the university, to verify you having a room. So, to keep you from having to pay for the room, and to make sure you had a place to stay, I came to get you. If you don't mind, you get to stay with my wife and I, until we can get you a set of rooms at the university."

"That's fine, as long as you don't mind having me around," said Leonard, with a smile.

"Well, then," said Geoff, "let's get your luggage into the car, and we'll go back to my house. I also plan on stopping for lunch, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," said Leonard, "I was just thinking about how hungry I was. Lead me to your car and I'll load it up."

Geoff started walking, "The car park is this way," he said pointing.

"The what?" asked Leonard.

"The car park," said Geoff. Seeing the puzzled look on Leonard's face, he continued, "the place where I parked my car."

"Oh, you mean the parking lot," said Leonard.

"The what?" said Geoff.

Leonard chuckled, "Well, there's a case of me having to learn a new term. Your car park, is called a parking lot, in the US. I thought you would know that from when you were at Cal Tech."

"Well, that's a strange term," said Geoff. "I didn't hear it when I was in California. Just follow me and I'll take you to my car."

Leonard followed Geoff and they were soon traveling on the M-25 and ten minutes after that, they were on the M-40. In about 45 minutes, Geoff exited off the road, then drove a short distance to an "Inn and Pub" according to Geoff, named 'The Three Horseshoes', where they could get some lunch. Leonard was grateful for the stop, he had been terrified as they drove. While Geoff was driving, everything was on the wrong side, according to Leonard. He always seemed to be looking in the wrong direction, causing him to gasp as cars went by, without his seeing them coming.

Entering the pub, it seemed crowded, and Geoff explained that families tended to eat out on this holiday. But, he told Leonard not to worry, as he knew the owner and his wife. Leonard heard someone call Geoff's name, and a happy looking woman came over. Geoff introduced her as Molly, and she led Leonard and Geoff to a table near the fireplace, a cheery fire crackling. Leonard let Geoff order the beer for them, then they looked at the menu. Leonard decided to get the battered cod and chips, Geoff got the Sausage and mash. It was a leisurely lunch, as neither of them seemed to be in a hurry, and they talked about differences in driving and words during lunch.

After lunch, they left the inn, and continued toward Headington, where Geoff lived, about a half an hour away. When Geoff pulled off the main highway, he explained that they were now on the main road to Headington, which would also lead to Oxford.

 **Apt 314, 9:30 AM Wednesday December 26th 2012.**

Jeanie was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping her coffee, reading the entertainment news on her iPad, while taking quick glances at Penny. Today, they had gotten up at nine, and Jeanie was thinking about Penny's drinking, and her mood, over the last two days.

Penny had seemed to have a good Christmas Day, although the later it got, the more depressed she sounded. Jeanie was concerned that her depressed state was going to lead her to do more drinking. But, she was encouraged that even with how much Penny had been drinking, she didn't seem to have any withdrawal problems, when she didn't drink yesterday. Jeanie was going back and forth in her mind, about talking to Penny about it today. She decided she would see how Penny was doing today, because she was also waiting for a friend of hers to call, possibly with some information that would lead to Jeanie questioning Penny, about what had happened with Brent.

 **Headington, UK, 3:00 PM Wednesday December 26th 2012.**

As they traveled into the city, Geoff made a left turn, and Leonard was amazed to see a shark, sticking out of the roof of one of the buildings.

"Geoff, what's that?"

Geoff chuckled, "That's the Headington Shark, it's rather famous. Look it up on the internet, later tonight."

In another minute, Geoff pulled into a driveway, in front of a small two story house, and shut off the car. "Well, here we are."

 **Apt 4A 10:00 AM Wednesday December 26th 2012.**

Amy was sitting on the couch, watching Sheldon. Sheldon had promised to go with her, to do some shopping for some after-Christmas sales, but he was staring intently at his white board.

"Sheldon…"

"Shhhhhhh, Amy," said Sheldon impatiently, "I'm in the zone."

"Yeah, the crackpot zone," mumbled Amy.

"What was that?" asked Sheldon.

"Nothing, nothing," said Amy. She realized Sheldon was deep into whatever problem he was working on, so after setting her phone to record, she said, "Sheldon, how about I go shopping, and leave you here, with your white boards. Then, for dinner tonight, we can go out."

Sheldon waved it away, "Sure, sure, Amy."

"OK, then, I'll leave you here," said Amy, as she put away her phone that had captured Sheldon's agreement. Amy put on her coat, picked up her purse and left.

Sheldon continued looking at the board. _I almost got the correct shape, last time. What variables, do I need to change, to make for it to work? Do I have to change the values of the variables for the stress-engery tensor, or do I keep the variables, and use a different tensor conversion?_

He didn't have the answer to either of those questions, and it was going to take longer than Sheldon had realized at first. He thought about all of the different possible ways to calculate the stress-energy tensor, and all of the different values in each of the elements of the tensor, and just shook his head. He decided to change current curvature tensor, and if that didn't work, start changing the variables in each of the tensors. He sighed, since there could be 256 different combinations. With that decision made, he started doing the calculations.

 **Raj's Apartment, 2:00 PM Wednesday December 26th 2012.**

Raj was sitting and watching a movie, feeling morose, drinking a beer. The group had gathered for dinner, at 4A, on Christmas day. There, he had spoken to Howard about getting together sometime today. However, when Raj got to Howard and Bernadette's apartment, Howard had evidently forgotten, as he had gone to the library, to do some more research for his project, and Bernadette was going over to her parents house.

So, Raj stopped by 4A on the way home. There he found Sheldon, in intense thought, working on a whiteboard. He asked Sheldon where Amy was, and Sheldon called for Amy, but when she didn't appear, he shrugged and told Raj that she must be out, and he had to get back to work.

Raj left 4A and went back to his apartment, and spent the rest of the day feeling all alone. Maybe if Leonard and Penny were still here, he could hang out with them, but they were gone, and besides, he had had a fight with Leonard. He got another beer, thinking that he couldn't find either a woman or a friend, and spent the evening feeling sorry for himself.

 **Headington, UK, 11:00 PM Wednesday December 26th 2012.**

Leonard had just climbed into the bed in the guest room. Geoff had made dinner, and it was almost ready when his wife, Rita, who worked in the administration area of the nearby hospital, had come home from work around 7 PM. Geoff introduced her and Leonard, wine was poured and they sat down to talk, until dinner was done. At 7:30, they had dinner and when they were finished, Rita started working on the dishes. Leonard tried to help, but was good-naturedly run out of the kitchen by Rita. Geoff had poured Leonard and him a glass of wine and moved, to what Leonard would have called a family room, to sit and watch some TV, and talk. Rita joined them shortly, and the three of them started by discussing Leonard's trip.

They also talked about the upcoming days. Tomorrow was a day off for most of the university, including the administration, so Leonard wouldn't be able to get his rooms, nor do any of the paperwork, until Friday. So, tomorrow would be a trip around the City of Oxford, a bit around the University, and some of the areas outside of the city. Just to familiarize Leonard with the area. Geoff also suggested he fill out some of the paperwork Geoff had brought home. That way, it would go quicker on Friday. Around 10:30 PM, Geoff and Rita told Leonard it was their bedtime. Leonard agreed and all three climbed the stairs. Leonard said goodnight to the two of them, and then went to his bedroom. He did his usual preparations, and was now trying to get comfortable. It wasn't very long, as he had had a very long day, before he was asleep.

 **Apt 314 6:00 PM Thursday December 27th 2012.**

Jeanie had just left, and Penny went to the fridge, grabbed and opened the first bottle of wine. She poured a glass and drank, as she thought about her day. Jeanie had come over early in the morning, spending the day with Penny, as she had done the last couple of days. Jeanie had tried to talk to Penny, but today, Penny didn't feel like talking, thinking about the events of the last few weeks. A few minutes ago, Jeanie had abruptly stood up, said she had to go, said goodnight, and left.

Penny felt so alone, and it had been getting worse and worse for her. She felt so bad, for everything that happened, because it was all her fault. The more she thought of how she had reacted to what had happened, the worse she felt about it, and the more she thought she deserved how much she hated herself. She didn't see any way to fix what she had messed up, she felt she just had to get through it. But, she thought about how she had destroyed her relationship with the one guy, she felt she truly loved, first by cheating, then by ignoring and lying to him. The thought, _if I did these things, did I truly love him?_ Kept running through her mind.

 _Why didn't I just tell him?_ That question now haunted her. As she thought about it, there were two main reasons. _One of the reasons was I was simply scared of his reaction._ _I couldn't bring myself to tell him, because I couldn't face not knowing if he would break up with me._ _But, the main reason, I guess, is I simply didn't want to hurt him. You stupid idiot, why would I think that if I didn't tell him, he wouldn't get hurt? Of course I'm an idiot, because I didn't figure out the only way not to tell him, was to not talk to him. I probably ended up hurting him worse by not talking to him. Then I wrote that fucking letter. It was just fucking stupid not to realize how bad breaking up in a letter was. Penny, you stupid bitch._

Now, as she thought about it, she understood it wasn't right. _I'm worse than those other women I used to think of as skanks. I'm nothing more than a fucking skank, and a bitch, there was no use sugarcoating it. I'm those things for cheating, for hurting Leonard, for just fucking everything._ _The only good thing,_ thought Penny, _was having Jeanie here. Thank God for Jeanie._ _If she hadn't been here, I don't know what I would have done._ But, Jeanie wasn't here tonight, and Penny, to avoid thinking of what a worthless piece of shit she was, wanted another drink, and another, and another, until she was so drunk, she couldn't think about it.

 **Apt 601 10:00 PM Thursday December 27th 2012.**

Jeanie had gotten the text at 5:45 from Robyn Harris, telling Jeanie she was going to try to call between 6 PM and 9 PM. Robin was an old friend, they had met just a few days after Jeanie got to New York the first time. Since she didn't want to talk about this in front of Penny, she said goodnight to her, left, going to her apartment.

She was going over her own thoughts. After watching her the last few days, Jeanie thought she had to talk to Penny about her drinking. It didn't seem as if Penny was addicted to alcohol, she didn't seem to need it all the time. However, while she might not physically need the alcohol, she appeared to be dependent on it, psychologically. It wouldn't hurt to recommend Penny talk to Jeanie's therapist, who might be able to help her get through things, without drinking.

Jeanie had wanted to hear back from Robyn, before she did recommend Penny see a therapist. Robyn had worked with Brent before, and Jeanie wanted some information. She had already talked to a few other friends and had some news for Penny, but this call could be the most important. When 9 PM passed, with no call, Jeanie decided she would talk to Penny about her drinking and try to find more information about what had happened with Brent. She would also mention to Penny about going to a therapist. She was now planning to do that, even if Robyn didn't call.

It was at 9:40 that her phone rang, and after hearing it was Robyn, they caught up on personal things for about ten minutes. Then she asked if Robyn had answers for her. In the next ten minutes, Robyn gave Jeanie, the information she was looking for. They said their goodbyes, and after hanging up, Jeanie knew her and Penny would have a very serious talk tomorrow.

 **Apt 4A 1:00 AM Friday December 28th 2012.**

Amy had woken up to the sound of something falling. She woke up, turned her light on, and looked around. She didn't see anything, so she got up, put her robe on, and opened her door. She could see light in the living room, which puzzled her, as Sheldon had gone to bed, at his usual time of 9:00 PM. She walked down the hallway, to the living , she spotted Sheldon, in his pajamas and robe, picking up one of the two white boards he was working on. He looked excited, but Amy didn't know why. So, she asked, "What are you doing Sheldon?"

"Working on my idea," Sheldon said. "Leonard's, actually, but he didn't fully understand how his idea fit into the theory, so he couldn't take his any farther. I had an idea, and he told me to go ahead and work on it, but I've been struggling with it. There are so many choices, that I was thinking about giving it up."

"Yes, I know all that," said Amy. "What I mean is what are you doing up at this time of night?"

"While I was sleeping, I had a dream about a way to decide how to arrange the equations in the stress-engery tensor," said Sheldon. "So, I came out here to set them up. Then, I started working on them, and got so excited, I knocked one of the boards over, I'm almost done." His marker was flying across the boards. He was moving different terms and letters back and forth.

"Well, go back to bed," said Amy.

"Just a minute," said Sheldon. He transferred a whole term from one board to the other, canceled some terms and rewrote the equations. Suddenly, he excitedly exclaimed, "That's it. Amy, that's it."

"What's it?"

"See how the two equations on each of the boards are similar, they just have different terms?" said Sheldon, still sounding excited.

"Yeah, so what?"

"Don't you see?" asked Sheldon.

"See what?"

"The one on the left board is for the EM force," said Sheldon. "The one on the right, is for Gravitons."

"So?" said Amy shrugging. "Gravitons don't work in the equations for Quantum particles…"

"Amy," said Sheldon, "I just found Quantum Theory equations that produced the shapes of the experiment Leonard was doing. He didn't know what those shapes represented. I assumed they were gravitons, and tried to find an equation, from Quantum Theory, that produced a match to those reflection shapes, using the gravitational coupling constant."

"I started with the EM equations, because Gravitons are point particles, like photons. Leonard figured out the Electron shapes, using the EM equations. I now have the Quantum Gravitational equations that produces those the shapes for gravitons."

"Well, ok,' said Amy, "but, you don't have the actual equations, do you?"

"No, but I have a starting point, well, an ending point. What I have to do now, is to find the equations that give me the equations I found tonight. When I find those, I should be able to use them to solve gravitational problems, using Quantum Theory. Try to solve something like the precession of Mercury. If that works, I'll have actual Quantum Gravity equations that work."

"But, I won't know if they're are valid, so I have to derive those equations from first principles. What will make it easier, is that I'll know the answers. If I can derive the equations that lead to those on the board, I'll have combined Gravity, Electro-magnetism, and the Strong Force, under one umbrella, something neither Einstein, Feymann, or anyone else has ever done."

Amy was shocked, this was the holy grail for physicists. "Well, get back to work," she said excitedly

 **Several things. The paperwork Leonard needed is accurate for an American seeking to work in the UK. There is a Pun and Inn, named The Three Horseshoes, just off the M-40, Near High Wyecomb. You can find its web page by googling it. Finally, the Headington Shark is real, do as Geoff suggests and look it up. wikipedia had a nice write up with images.**


	80. Chapter 79

**A/N There are only two scenes in this chapter. The first is Leonard's, the second Penny's. In Leonard's scene, there really is a building with that name at Oxford (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it).**

 **Chapter 79**

 **Oxford 10:00 AM Friday December 28th 2012.**

Geoff pulled up and found a space to park, in the space that ran between the two lanes that made up Broad Street. "This is fortunate," said Geoff, "you usually can't find a place here."

Leonard was looking around after getting out of the car, it looked much different from the CalTech campus. CalTech was so modern, many things here, reminded Leonard of something from the fourteenth century. "So is all this Trinity?"

"No, no," said Geoff, "in front of us, to the right, are some shops, one's a pub, the other is a book shop. Behind them are some of the Trinity buildings, and next to them, in front of us, is Kettell Hall." Geoff pointed to the left," Those are the Trinity Cottages, which house students, then more fencing and the main gate. All of those, are part of Trinity, further past the gate is Balliol College. Trinity itself extends well back from Broad Street here."

Leonard had partially seen a name on one of the buildings across the street from the buildings they were now facing. "Geoff," Leonard said, "that building over there," pointing across the street, "the one with the curved front, what is it?"

"Oh, that's the back of the theatre Oxford uses for music concerts, lectures, conferences, and university ceremonies, that sort of thing."

"But, what is its name?"

"What?"

"What is the name of the theatre?" asked Leonard.

Geoff looked slightly puzzled, but said, "It's rather well known, over here. Well, I can't see the sign from here, but it's called the Sheldonian."

Leonard covered his face with his hand, let his head drop, and shook his head, "I can't get away from him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember me telling you about my oddball roommate?" said Leonard. "You met him at CalTech."

"Yes, what about him?"

"His name is Sheldon," said Leonard. "We would sometimes refer to things he would do as 'Sheldonian'."

Geoff chuckled, "If you think of it that way, I suppose you can't get away from him. In this case, it's named for Gilbert Sheldon, the chancellor of Oxford, when construction on the theatre started in 1664. Come on."

Geoff started crossing the street, and Leonard followed him to a gate, just off to the left, as he was looking at it, of what Geoff had called Kettell Hall. Geoff opened the gate, allowed Leonard in, then closed it. He led him along some stone paths, with a covered area that Leonard assumed would be green grass in the summer, to his left. With the old buildings, the stone paths and the covered area, it was rather picturesque. He took him through a walkway, across a smaller area, and into another building. As they walked along the hallway, Geoff said, "This is Jackson Hall, it holds some administration offices. All of the administration offices are scattered throughout the buildings, most of the colleges don't have a central administration building. There's talk of erecting another building here, to house all of the administration, but it hasn't been decided yet."

They entered an office, and went to the counter. The office only contained two people. A matronly woman, with blond hair, came up, "Hello, Dr Whatney, how are you doing today?"

"Quite well, Mrs Hansen, thank you," said Geoff. He turned toward Leonard, and said, "Leonard, I'd like you to meet Helen Hansen," Geoff turned back to the woman, "Helen, I'd like you to meet Dr Leonard Hofstadter."

"Pleased to meet you, Dr Hofstadter,"

"Pleased to meet you Mrs Hansen," said Leonard, "but, please, call me Leonard."

"Oh, I'm afraid I couldn't do that," said Mrs Hansen. "That wouldn't be respectful."

Leonard glanced at Geoff, and he just shrugged. "Ok, Mrs Hanson, Dr Hofstadter it is."

"Thank you, Dr Hofstadter," said Mrs Hansen. "If you give me a minute," she reached down and pulled up a folder with a lot of papers in it. "I have here, quite a few of the papers you need to fill out, and give back to us. You can sit over there," she pointed at a desk with several chairs. "Dr Whatney can help you if you have any questions," said Mrs Hansen. "After you're done, bring it back and we will go over all of it, then I'll send you over to the other person you'll need to talk to today."

Leonard spent the next four hours in the room. He had noticed that most of this was basically signing into the university and college. Others were getting his rooms, food, and utilities set up. Geoff helped him with the academic parts in filling out the forms, then going over each of them with Mrs Hansen. She had separated them out into three piles. She gave the largest to Leonard, and two piles to Geoff. She opened the gate to allow them behind the counter and she walked them over to one of the desks. Behind it, sat a small bespectacled man, in a suit, who accepted the pile of paperwork from Leonard and one from Geoff. Geoff introduced him as James Cooke, he was the international faculty liaison. As the man looked through the paperwork, Geoff explained that any requests or requirements Leonard needed, as far as his faculty needs, accommodations, or meal accessibility, would go through him.

Mr Cooke, after finishing looking over the paperwork said, "It's nice to meet you Dr Hofstadter."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Cooke," said Leonard.

"It's good to see you have everything in proper order," said Mr Cooke. "And, you are rather lucky."

"Why is that?"

"Well, we won't have as many graduate students this semester, so we were able to find you accommodations here at Trinity. You will have two rooms, with a private shower and loo between the two rooms."

"Excuse me, a what?"

"In America, it's called a toilet, Leonard," said Geoff.

"Ahh, OK, I remember now," said Leonard thinking of Priya using the term.

"Your rooms will be in Kettell Hall, among some grad students. Since we want to avoid the appearance of playing favorites, we put you in Kettell Hall because it houses the graduate Classics students. These are students trying to get their doctorate or masters in ancient history, or study Roman or Greek language and history. There won't be any Physics students there."

Mr Cooke looked through the papers, had Leonard sign some, then gave him copies of all of them. He then pulled up the second group of papers. "Once you are set up, you will be able to eat in the Dining Hall. The food is quite good, and the cost of your accommodations and food will be taken out of your pay. So, please keep track of your meals, so you know how much will be coming out of your pay."

Leonard nodded, his understanding.

Mr Cooke looked Leonard over, with a frown, "Dr Hofstadter, you must realize, that faculty here at Trinity, are expected to wear smart attire for everyday wear, and even on their days off, if you will be in the offices. You will also have to purchase the proper gowns, for those occasions that require them. In addition, you will need formal attire, for those formal occasions, such as guest night in the dining hall. T-shirts, tennis shoes, jeans and that other thing you're wearing, are not proper for faculty, unless you are in the gymnasium."

Leonard had no idea what he was talking about, but Geoff spoke up, "I'll explain it all to him."

"Very good, Dr Whatney," said Mr Cooke. He turned back to Leonard and said, "You can't really move in now, because you will not get you your Bod Card, until Monday, so you won't have access to your rooms. Temporary access was arranged for Dr Whatney, so he could take you around, and allow you to enter the building so you could see your rooms. On Monday, we'll set up an appointment to get your internet and television connected, but you won't have it until after the new year. We also won't be able to add you to those allowed to book a meal in the dining hall, so I hope you have other accommodations until then."

"He's staying with me," said Geoff.

"Ahhhhh, excellent," said Mr Cooke. "I think that's all for now. I believe Dr Whatney will have arranged for your offices, with the physics department, you'll see them Monday. If you have any questions, please give me a call," he paused, looking in his desk. "Here's my card. Do you have any questions?"

"None right now," said Leonard. "If I have any, I'll ask Dr Whatney first, and if he can't answer, I'll call you, after New Year's Day."

"That sounds fine, Dr Hofstadter," said Mr Cooke. "I hope you have a good stay here. Before you leave, I have several guides, maps, information, etc, that you can have, to get acquainted with the town of Oxford, Oxford University, in general, and Trinity College, specifically. In addition, here is your faculty guide, containing the rules and regulations for the faculty here at Oxford."

"Thank you for all your help," said Leonard as he rose. He waited until Mr Cooke had brought the guides to him, then turned and said, "Are you ready Geoff?"

"Yes, I am," said Geoff. "Before we leave, let's stop and look at your rooms, then we can go back to the house."

They both walked out of the office, walking toward Kettell Hall. Once there, Geoff let Leonard into the building, and then his rooms, so Leonard could look the rooms over, and he was pleased with what he had. He was looking at the furniture, and was going over in his head where some of his things would go. He planned on using one room as a bedroom, and the other as a living room or den. After a few minutes, Leonard said he was done, and they left.

On the drive to Geoff's house, Leonard asked about which gowns he would need, and Geoff explained about faculty gowns, but suggested he ask Mr Cooke to recommend someone at Trinity, for their specific needs, as each college differed in their requirements. Leonard then asked what was meant by 'smart attire' and formal wear. Geoff explained that smart attire was simply a suit, or proper trousers, with a dress shirt, tie, and academic coat, and proper shoes. The formal wear could be considered a tuxedo shirt, with a tie or ascot, and suit length coat.

Geoff suggested that Leonard also get a vest and a tailed coat, along with a white bow tie, for those really formal occasions. He was expected to use smart dress daily, and formal dress, in the dinning hall, on guest evenings along with other events where it was required. He also reminded him, that faculty dress requirements were stricter than student requirements. Geoff said he would take Leonard to his clothier, in Oxford, who also had a connection on Saville Row, in London. In addition, he offered to let Leonard look through what Geoff wore, so Leonard could get an idea of what should be worn.

Finally, Leonard had asked about a 'Bod card'. Geoff explained it was each individual's ID card for the various places in Oxford. Many of the areas were locked and you had to use your card, to enter those areas. Kettell Hall required one, Geoff, with his temporary permissions, had used his to show Leonard around. The reason it was called a 'Bod card', Geoff explained, was it was originally for use at the Bodleian Libraries, the various libraries on campus, but the university began using it for identification. And now it could be used to pay for meals at the dining hall, and ID for tests and other things around the university.

Geoff had finished his explanations just as they arrived at his house. He told Leonard he had some work to do, and dinner would be around 7 PM. Afterward, Leonard could look at Geoff's suits, to get an idea of what kind of clothing he might want. Entering the house, Leonard went to his room and started reading several of the guides he had been given.

 **Apt 314 10:00 AM Friday December 28th 2012.**

Jeanie knocked on Penny's door, and was a bit surprised to have her open the door in less than a minute. Penny was walking back to the table, and Jeanie closed the door, and followed her. Before sitting down, she looked at the coffee maker and found it was just starting. She sat down across from Penny and looked at her. _Damn, she looks hung-over, but at least she's up._ "So, how much did you have to drink last night?"

Penny knew she looked hung over, so there was no use hiding it, "A couple of bottles," said Penny. "at least I got to bed early, drank some water, took a couple of aspirin."

"Do you really think that makes it all better, Penny?" asked Jeanie, gently. "You really need to stop drinking so much."

Penny put her head in her hands, "I know. I try, but then I start thinking about everything, and I just want to forget. If I drink, I don't think about it."

"Do you want me to get you an appointment with my psychologist?" asked Jeanie. "You could go in and talk to her, maybe get some help to work through your problems. No one ever found an answer to their problems, at the bottom of a bottle. It just makes it worse."

"I know it does, but I can do this by myself," said Penny.

Knowing what she was going to have to tell Penny this morning, Jeanie really didn't think she could, but she would come back to this.

"The problem right now is I just feel so down," said Penny. "I know it's my own fault. I'm the one that messed this all up, and I'm struggling with it, you understand?"

Jeanie nodded.

"There's no reason to go back to California," said Penny. "Leonard's gone, so I can't talk to him. My friends are mad at me, so there's no reason to see them. I know it's my fault, so I drink, so I don't have to think about it."

This was the opening Jeanie was looking for. "Penny," said Jeanie, "you said you drank last night, but you seem, well, at least functional, this morning."

"Yeah, so?"

Jeanie said, "Can I ask you a question about, er, that night?"

Penny nodded.

"You said you only remembered two drinks, that night" said Jeanie, "and you were seriously hung-over and couldn't remember. But here you remembered drinking two whole bottles, and aren't all that badly hung-over."

"Yeah?"

"So, you don't remember what you drank that night?"

Penny thought back, "Yeah, it seemed kinda weird to me at the time, I usually have no trouble remembering the previous night, but even if I do black out, I can still remember how much I drank, right up until I blacked out. All I remember from that night is two drinks, and I shouldn't have blacked out after two drinks."

Jeanie was nodding her head, what she was hearing from Penny, was matching what she had been told in letters, emails, and on the phone, over the last couple of weeks. There were minor differences, but it matched pretty well. "Was there anything else?"

Penny was trying to remember, "I remember being confused for most of the day, and my hangovers aren't like that. And my balance was off, when I first woke up and it was still that way a little bit, even after I got home and slept some more."

"Anything else that was different from your usual hangover?"

"I don't normally feel nauseous," said Penny, "I mean I've thrown up before and I threw up that morning, but I felt nauseous into the afternoon, and that had never happened before." Penny looked at Jeanie, "There was one other thing I remember. Throughout the morning, and into the afternoon, my vision was blurry, but I thought that was because I was tired and hung-over. Why do you want to know?"

Jeanie knew this was going to be the tough part, so she started with something else. "Penny, I've been talking to some of my friends, in the business, and talked to several other women, who aren't my friends, but do know friends of mine. All of them that I've contacted have worked with Brent."

"And?"

"Penny, this has happened before, to other women who have worked with him. He takes them out, or meets with them, they go to his place, and the next morning they don't remember the night before, find they are hung-over, and they had sex with him. All of them regretted having had too much to drink, and ending up in bed with him."

"So, I'm not the only one who ended up having sex with him."

"There's more Penny," said Jeanie, "do you know Robin Harris?

"Yeah," said Penny, "I've seen her in several movies, and she had a recurring part in-in-in, ahhh, dammit, what was that show?"

"The show was called _Mean Streets_ , and yes, she did have a recurring role," said Jeanie. "Just to let you know, she is a friend of mine and Brent was on that show. One night, they went to his place, to work on their scenes, just like you and he did. He asked her if she wanted a drink and she asked for a diet Sprite, since she doesn't drink. She woke up the next morning, in bed with Brent. She didn't know how it happened, all she remembered was talking with Brent, and drinking the Sprite. She felt terrible, and assumed it was a hangover, as she didn't drink. Brent told her after the Sprite, she asked for liquor in her Sprite, and then she kept asking for more drinks with alcohol. Like you remembering only the two drinks, She only remembered getting just the diet Sprite."

"It was a couple of weeks later," continued Jeanie, "that she remembered looking at the bottom of the glass, and trying to figure out if there were bubbles or something at the bottom of the glass. The room was dimly lit and her eyes wouldn't focus."

Although Penny still didn't fully understand, an idea began to creep into her mind, but she tried to ignore it, she didn't like the implications. She said, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Don't you see Penny," said Jeanie. "All of the women woke up with what they first thought were hang-overs, and when I talked or messaged with them, they all remembered some other symptoms, symptoms that weren't part of their usual hangovers. Things like being unbalanced, disoriented, confused, fuzzy vision, all of that."

Penny finally fully realized where Jeanie was going with this, but her mind wouldn't let her think about it. All she could do was shake her head.

"All of them had the same symptoms as you, even Robin, and another woman I talked to, who don't drink," said Jeanie.

She was still shaking her head, but Penny's eyes started filling with tears.

"I can't prove it, but you have the same experience that other women, even those that don't drink had. All of you that were with Brent, had the same experience of having similar symptoms, different from a hang-over, but symptoms similar to what you would have if you were drugged. It really appears that Brent, as he's done with other women, drugged you and raped you."

Penny's face had a look of devastation on it, but she still couldn't accept it. "No, no, that's not what happened, it couldn't have." Penny said, wildly. She couldn't face the implication of what Jeanie just told her. Denying what she was told was her way of denying what had happened. She continued, almost yelling out the words, "I told you what happened. It's the same thing I've done before, I got drunk, and we had sex. That's what happened…I told you it's my fault."

Before Jeanie could say anything, Penny started sobbing, got up and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. Jeanie didn't move. She knew there wasn't anything she could do for her, right now. However, Jeanie was prepared to wait, right here, until Penny came out of her bedroom, so she could try to help her through this.


	81. Chapter 80

**A/N Well, here we are at Chapter 80. Five more chapters and one epilogue to go. There is another note at the end.**

 **Chapter 80**

 **Headington, UK, 6:30 PM Friday December 28th 2012.**

Leonard had been reading the university guides since he got back to Geoff's. There was a knock on the door and Leonard said, "Come in."

Geoff opened the door and looked in and said, "I'm going to pick out the wine for dinner, would you like to come along and see my wine cellar?"

"Sure," said Leonard as he got up.

Geoff led Leonard toward his cellar, and said, "It's not really a wine cellar in the conventional sense, but I have several refrigerated storage units. It is normally quite cool down here, for those wines don't need refrigeration, but are better cool."

The room was small and felt damp, with three large units with glass doors on them, the five racks in each held dozens of bottles. Geoff explained the different wines, where they were from, the grape varieties, and what they usually were paired with. As they were having fish tonight, Geoff took a white wine out, and brought it to the dining room. Over dinner, Geoff explained how he had been using the university spectrum analyzer to try to determine what chemicals, in the wine, gave the wine it's taste. After dinner, Geoff and Leonard helped clear the table, and then Geoff took Leonard to his closet, so he could see the type of clothing, an Oxford professor was expected to wear.

He and Geoff spent over an hour looking through Geoff's clothes, and now Leonard had a better idea of academic, lounge, and formal wear. He also understood the two different gowns he would be required to wear. Leonard was concerned, as he had never really been required to wear such clothing. Priya, and to a lesser extent, Penny, had tried to get him to change the clothing he wore, but he was still comfortable wearing T-shirts and hoodies. After reading the guides and seeing Geoff's clothes, he realized those types of clothes were a thing of the past for him, as a faculty member here.

He understood he was going to have to buy the clothing he needed. Fortunately, Geoff knew a shop where Leonard could get such clothing, and promised to take him there, when the shop opened after New Year's. Meanwhile, Geoff told him the two suits he had brought would be passable, until he could get proper clothes, since he wouldn't be meeting any students. They finally walked back out to the living room, and spent the rest of the evening talking, along with Geoff's wife, and sipping wine. It was just after 10 PM, when they all went to bed.

 **Apt 314 7:00 PM Friday December 28th 2012.**

Jeanie was watching TV, when she heard the door to Penny's room open. Penny came out, rather meekly, walking to the couch, sitting down and saying to Jeanie, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For yelling at you," said Penny, sounding sad. "For not accepting what you were telling me, for…for…for everything."

"Penny, it's OK," said Jeanie. Penny looked absolutely devastated, so Jeanie took her hand, while she tried to console her, "From what I know, you were raped, and it's not easy to come to terms with that. Most women try to deny it, thinking if they don't think about it, it will go away. God knows I would have a very difficult time with it, but, can you tell me why you refused to believe it, when I told you?"

Penny looked like she was going to cry, but didn't, "It's just…just…I've been drunk before, where I'd have sex with someone I may not have had sex with, if I'd been sober. And in most of those cases the guy was drunk too…"

"Penny, it doesn't matter if the guy was drunk," said Jeanie, "If you were too drunk to give consent…"

"I know, I know," said Penny, sounding frustrated. "I get that now, but if we were both drinking, I…I…guess I can justify it, at least in my mind. But, this makes me feel dirty and used…I was deliberately drugged, and had sex forced on me. But, I went to his place, so I've got to be partly to blame…"

"No, you are not. That is just a rationalization," said Jeanie, "and that is also something that happens to rape victims. You are blaming yourself, and you can't do that. And, his using drugs to get you incapacitated is no different from someone else using alcohol, it's a drug too."

"But…"

"No buts, Penny," said Jeanie. "You need to come to terms that it wasn't your fault, that someone else is to blame. You have to acknowledge that it happened, yes, but also know it's not your fault. There's a lot of subtlety in this type of situation, you really need to see a therapist to sort it all out."

"That's all great for me, but what can I do about him?" asked Penny. "I can't go to the police, it's been too long. I thought I was just drunk, so I have no evidence. And without evidence, I can't accuse him of doing anything."

"Penny," said Jeanie, "unless we can get some evidence, there's nothing we can do, legally to him."

Penny asked, "Do any of the other women have any evidence?"

Jeanie shook her head, "No, none of them have any proof either, so, like I said, noting legally we can do."

Jeanie could see tears forming in Penny's eyes as she said, "He's going to get away with this, isn't he? He'll do it again to other women and there's nothing I can do to stop him."

"Actually Penny," said Jeanie, "there is something we can do. Now, we can't flat out accuse him, because we have no evidence, but you can tell your story."

"But what good does that do?" asked Penny.

"In this business, it will get around, and that may help other women be more careful with him. For example, some of my actress friends have recently told me stories about the head of our network coming on to them, even if they didn't want it."

Penny looked shocked, "Les Moonves?"

Jeanie nodded, "I've also heard some women talk about their experience with a famous comedian and actor. He had a big show in the 80s, who may have drugged 60 women or more, then took advantage of them."

"I've heard a couple of stories also, I think you're talking about Bill…"

"Yeah, it's him, but see, women just told their experience with both of them. The stories weren't accusatory, just what they experienced, and those stories got around. So now, if I were with them, I would be very careful. I wish I would have heard the stories about Brent, before this, so I could have warned you.

"I should have know better," said Penny. "I thought he was creepy to begin with, and I should have know better than go with him..."

"Dammit, Penny," said Jeanie harshly, "get it through your head, this wasn't your fault. Got it?"

"Fine, it's not my fault, but this doesn't help me right now," said Penny bitterly. "It leaves me having to put my life back together, and I really can't say anything directly to him."

"No, you can't," said Jeanie, "except maybe to tell him to stay away from you. But, remember, I'll be there to walk with you to your dressing room, so you won't have to deal with him."

Penny didn't look happy, "He'll still be around, to remind me, along with the scenes I'll have with him."

Jeanie could see Penny starting to tear up, and didn't blame her. She thought about a way to get her to think about something else. "How about you help me make us some dinner? We can try to find something else to talk about, try to keep your mind off of it."

Penny nodded, but before they could get up, Penny collapsed into Jeanie, sobbing loudly. Jeanie put her arms around her, and just let her cry. _I've got to tell Kelli or Jim what is going on,_ thought Jeanie.

 **Apt 4A 7:30 PM Saturday December 29th 2012.**

Raj was watching Sheldon working on three different whiteboards. He would do some calculations, then move terms to another board. Occasionally, he'd look at the various sheets of paper scattered on the coffee table, nodding his head. Raj recognized a lot of the terms on the boards, but he had never seen them put together quite the way Sheldon had them in the equations. Raj had tried to ask about the equations several times, but Sheldon had cut him off, except for telling him he was trying to convert General Relativity equations into Quantum equations. Raj had asked about Amy, and Sheldon had said Amy was in her room, working on her project. He also said he had sent her there when she continued to talk, while she worked, and Raj should take the hint.

Raj did, leaving soon after. He had stopped by Howard and Bernadette's place, before going to 4A, but they weren't home. Since he had nowhere else to go, he stopped by Marie Callender's, bought a pie, and decided to take it home, instead of eating it in the car. While he ate the pie at home, he worried about how much weight he would put on, but he felt alone. With Penny and Leonard gone, the group meals in 4A had mostly stopped. And, now, with everyone else seemingly working on a new project, his group of friends were too busy for him. Well, he had plans for New Year's Eve. There was a party he knew about, and if he had a couple of beers before going, he should be able to talk to any of the women there. With that, he stopped eating the pie, worrying about if he would fit into the suit he planned to wear.

 **Headington, UK, 3:30 PM Sunday December 30th 2012.**

Leonard was going through his luggage, putting things into two piles, one for his office, the other for his rooms. He would be getting his 'Bod Card' tomorrow, along with getting added to the list of faculty allowed to eat in the dinning hall, so he could start booking meals. He would also be getting his office tomorrow, and while there wasn't a lot of his things, for the office at present, he would make arrangements for the rest of his things to be delivered next week. He planned to put the things he had with him in their proper place. While he was very grateful for Geoff and his wife putting him up, he was sure they would want their privacy back, so Leonard would be moving in to his rooms in Kettell Hall, the day after New Year's Day.

Leonard finished separating his things, and then packed them in different pieces of luggage. Geoff was going to take him in, so he could get his office partially set up, taking Leonard's other things to his room, then going to Geoff's clothier, on Thursday. With the separation done, Leonard laid on the bed and wondered how his friends were doing, and also thought about Penny. He had been busy since arriving in the UK, and hadn't had time to think about her. But now, with nothing really to do, he was wondering how she was. He was sure he had made the right decision to leave, but he was thinking about how much he missed her.

 **Apt 314, NY, 6:30 PM Sunday December 30th 2012.**

Jeanie had been staying at Penny's for the last two days, ever since she had told Penny about the other women's experience with Brent. She had expected Penny's reaction to be negative, and wanted to be there for her. But, now, she was starting to get worried about her, as Penny had done nothing but sit there and watch TV. Actually, Jeanie noticed, she wasn't really watching, just staring at it, as programs changed. Jeanie had tried talking to her, but Penny was only giving short answers, if she answered at all, and she was still avoiding talking about what had happened.

When Jeanie pressed her about how she felt, Penny finally admitted the feeling of sadness she had, from breaking up with Leonard, had intensified. But, that wasn't as strong as the negative feelings about her life now, with the realization that she had been raped. She felt helpless and felt her life was out of her control. In addition, in some way, she felt 'dirty', like she was used goods, although she couldn't really explain it. She now remembered trying to scrub Brent off of her, in the shower, after getting home. Jeanie's biggest worry was Penny's saying she just didn't really care about anything, at the moment. Penny also mentioned feeling even stronger about not wanting to go back to the show, not wanting to continue in the business, and most of all, not wanting to have to deal with Brent.

While Jeanie could understand that, she also knew that there were other things that Penny wasn't taking into account, but she didn't want to push her on this right now, with everything else she was dealing with. She was also trying to figure out a way to approach Jim and Kelli about this. To try and help Penny start thinking about something else, she asked Penny to think about going to Times Square, for the ball drop, for New Years. Penny told Jeanie she'd think about it, but Jeanie noticed that her face was expressionless, with a vacant look in her eyes.

 **Trinity College, Oxford, 11:00 AM Monday December 30th 2012.**

Leonard was waiting at the desk of Mr Cooke, while Geoff was talking to Mrs Hansen. Mr Cooke came back and handed Leonard a card with dark blue writing, his name, department and college, it had a magnetic strip and lots of small print, on the back.

Mr Cooke, with an air of distain said, "This is your so called 'Bod Card'. I prefer it's proper name: the Bodliean Library Card. However, it's been highjacked for other purposes and its name shortened. As a reminder, it will get you into any buildings or school rooms you have been granted access to, dining hall, your room, your office, etc. It's also, as the proper name suggests, your library card, usable at any of the Oxford libraries. You can also book your meals with this."

"Dr Whatney had given us your building and office and those have been added to the card. You will have to find which parts of your department you are allowed in, so your department can add those."

Mr Cooke continued, "We have arranged for them to hook up your internet and television service on the second, and we'll contact you when that is complete. I don't know if you want to move in now, or wait until we have your television and internet hooked up."

"I'll be staying with Dr Whatney until the second," said Leonard, "so I'll be moving in then."

"Very good," said Mr Cooke, "After you move in, if you have any questions please let me know. I'm here every weekday. If it's during the weekend or after office hours, please see me the next business morning."

Leonard thanked him, and he and Geoff left. They went to Kettell Hall, to see if Leonard's card worked. It did, and Leonard again looked into the room. After that, he and Geoff left, with Geoff taking him to the physics complex known as the Clarendon Laboratory, and showing him how to get to the laboratory from his rooms.

Once there, Geoff found a place to park and then took Leonard to the Lindemann building, letting Leonard use his card, it opened the door, and Geoff led him to the third floor, and to a door, 308, Leonard noted. Using his card again, he opened the door, and entered. He could see a large window, behind a rather large desk, with a computer screen and phone on it. Also in the room were quite a few bookcases, along with a loveseat, chair and a table, and on one wall, a large whiteboard.

Leonard was impressed with his office. While it was about half the size of his lab/office at CalTech, it didn't have any equipment in it, so though it was somewhat smaller, he paradoxically, had much more room. Geoff asked if there was anything else he wanted to see, and Leonard said no, he would ask for a formal tour after the school opened next week. Leonard had brought the piece of luggage containing his office things, and he left that piece in the office, then he and Geoff left.

On the way to Geoff's, Leonard asked if there was anything planned for New Year's Eve, and Geoff told him just the usual. After Leonard asked about what was usual, Geoff explained that he and his wife traditionally had some wine, meats, and cheeses around midnight, as they watched Jools Holland. Leonard had no idea what that was and asked. As Geoff explained, Leonard realized that it was in some ways similar to what was televised on American television, on New Year's Eve. At that, Leonard thought about the ball drop in New York, and wondered if Penny was going to be there. He thought about that, the rest of the way to Geoff's.

 **Apt 314, NY, 5:30 PM Monday December 31th 2012.**

Jeanie was trying to get Penny to go to Times Square for the evening, but Penny had refused to go, all day. Everything Jeanie had tried, Penny turned down. Jeanie wanted Penny to go, to get her mind off of everything. Penny didn't want to go, because she said she didn't want to go out into the cold, as it was just above freezing. What she didn't tell Jeanie, was she just didn't care about it, right now.

Finally, Jeanie gave up, and decided that they would just stay in and watch the ball drop, on television. Penny still looked and sounded really down, but Jeanie turned away and started making dinner. _Maybe she'll have more of an expression watching television tonight._

 **Raj's Apt 8:00 PM Monday December 31th 2012.**

Raj was getting ready to go out for the party. One of the married physics professors was having a party at his house. There would be quite a few people from the physics department, and, he was told, quite a few women, who worked with his wife. He was looking forward to it, as Howard and Bernadette, along with Sheldon and Amy, had been too busy to hang out with him or even get together to eat as a group anymore. As Raj thought about it, he realized how important Leonard and Penny had been, in keeping the group together.

 _Oh, well,_ he thought, _I'll meet some new people tonight, and I may find some different people to hang out with._ He checked his pants, and his sweater vest, and gave his hair a quick comb. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror, finished off his beer, so he'd be able to talk to the women at the party, and walked out his door.

 **Apt 314, NY, 8:30 AM Tuesday January 1st 2013.**

Jeanie had just gotten up and turned the coffee on, when she was surprised to see Penny coming into the kitchen. Penny looked at the coffee, and when she saw it wasn't ready, she looked at Jeanie and said in a dead voice, "I'm getting a shower," then turned and went to the bathroom. Jeanie watched her go, and waited for the coffee to finish brewing. When the coffee was ready, Jeanie poured herself a cup and sat at the table, sipping it, wondering how Penny was going to do today.

They had gone to bed soon after midnight, drinking tea all night, except for one glass of wine, for a toast at midnight. Tomorrow, they would be getting their scripts and the table read would be on Thursday this week. It would be a short week, with blocking starting the afternoon, after the table read. Jeanie thought that Penny's emotional condition was going to be a problem, and felt she had to figure something out for Penny today.

After Penny had finished her shower, she came out to the kitchen, and after pouring herself a cup of coffee, started making some eggs for breakfast. She asked Jeanie if she would like some and Jeanie agreed. Penny made the eggs and toast, poured each of them some juice and they both sat down to eat. Afterward, they cleaned up and Jeanie said she was going to get a shower, while Penny poured another cup of coffee and took it to the couch to watch TV.

 **A/N Just a quick note here for my US readers. As my UK readers will know, Jools Holland has an annual television show, that features well-known people from show business and the music business. Unlike most American New Year's Eve shows, it's pre-recorded to accommodate the numerous people who will appear, but it's timed out so that the countdown to midnight occurs at the proper time.**


	82. Chapter 81

**A/N Noting much to tell you here. So, I guess it's time for a disclaimer. I don't own any of the characters, except for Geoff. Leonard, Penny, and Raj belong to Warner Brothers, Chuck Lorre, and Bill Prady. Jeanie belongs to the author of the story this is based on.**

 **Chapter 81**

 **Headington, UK 3:00 PM Tuesday January 1st 2013.**

Leonard was laying on the bed, trying to take a nap, and failing. He had been upset the previous night, because of a skit that had been on the New Year's Eve show they had been watching. It had been on just after midnight, causing Leonard to excuse himself, claiming being tired, so he could go to his room. The skit was about a guy, who had gone to a New Year's Eve party, and found his ex-girlfriend there, with her new boyfriend. And how sad he felt, even though his ex looked embarrassed about kissing her new guy, at midnight. It had reminded him of the New Year's Eve, in the comic book store, causing him to think of Penny. How she was with Zack that night, but that look of embarrassment she had, after Zack had kissed her, at midnight, and how sad Leonard had felt.

These thoughts, and others about Penny, kept Leonard tossing and turning most of the night, so he hadn't gotten much sleep. Not only that, but he was awoken early, by singing, outside his window. He had put on his robe and went down to the kitchen, got a cup of coffee, then joined Geoff and his wife, at their front door, listening to what appeared to be a children's choir. While Leonard drank his coffee, Geoff had explained it was a tradition for children to go around the neighborhood, singing on New Year's Day. They enjoyed the singing and afterward, Leonard offered to cooked some eggs, sausage, and toast, for breakfast. Geoff helped by cutting up some tomatoes, and poured some orange juice.

There was nothing really planned for the day. Geoff and his wife were planning on just watching the New Year's Day Parade in London, on TV, then doing some reading. Geoff urged Leonard to watch the parade with them, as they usually had several bands from US high schools. At noon, the parade started and as they watched, Leonard saw a band from near where he grew up in New Jersey. Leonard had enjoyed watching, until, near the end, they announced a band that came from Pasadena. Leonard choked up at that, but hid the rest of his reaction. He soon excused himself, explaining that he had not slept well and wanted to take a nap. He had been in bed for an hour now, and he simply could not fall asleep, thinking about Pasadena, and Penny. It took another thirty minutes, before he finally nodded off.

 **Raj's Apartment, 10:30 AM Tuesday January 1st 2013.**

Raj, groaned and rolled over. He opened his eyes and regretted it instantly, as the sun was shining through his bedroom window. He struggled out of the bed, going to the bathroom. He searched through the medicine cabinet, and not finding what he needed, stumbled out to the kitchen. His head was throbbing, and he was aching all over, _Where is that aspirin?_ he thought, looking on top of the fridge. _Ahhhhh, there it is._ He reached for it, opened the container and took two of them, swallowing them dry. He moved over to the coffee maker and turned it on, then grabbed a bottle of water and sat at his table.

As he drank large gulps of water, he tried to figure out what had gone wrong last night. The beginning of the night seemed to go fine. The beer he drank at home, allowed him to talk to various women, throughout the night. But, he didn't have any luck. When first meeting the different women, they would start talking to him, but soon would move on to someone else. As the night went on, he drank more, and most would leave before he could introduce himself, and those that did stay, walked away earlier and earlier. He couldn't figure it out, but last night, and even this morning, he had started feeling as if it was him, who was the problem.

He now decided that the last thought, was the booze, last night, and his headache, this morning, talking. After all, he remembered spending the night being gracious to everyone he talked to, and who was the host anyway, to ask him to leave? It wasn't his fault that women mistook his intentions, when he stumbled and accidentally grabbed the women's breast, and when he tried to brush the crumbs off of her sweater, she slapped him. The coffee was ready, and he finished the bottle of water and poured a cup of coffee. His head was still pounding and he decided he wouldn't be going anywhere today, no one seemed to want him anyway. He took his coffee, sat on his couch and turned on the TV, hoping to get through the day.

 **Apt 314, NY, 11:45 AM Tuesday January 1st 2013.**

Jeanie returned from her apartment, after her shower, to find Penny, with her head on the arm of the couch, sobbing. Coming up and sitting down next to Penny, she said, "What's wrong?"

Penny continued sobbing, and pointed to the screen and said, "That's what's wrong."

Looking at the screen and seeing what was on, Jeanie asked, sounding puzzled, "A parade?"

"Jeanie," said Penny bitterly, "that's the Tournament of Roses Parade, in Pasadena. I could see that parade go past my window every New Year's Day. The Cheesecake Factory, where I used to work, is about three blocks from the place you see here. Jeanie, I'm so homesick," as Penny broke down into sobs again.

Jeanie gathered Penny up in a hug and just let her sob, while she patted her back. After a while, Penny sat up, and said, "I'm sorry, Jeanie, I'm just so useless."

"It's OK, Penny," said Jeanie.

"It's just I miss everyone out there, but I miss Leonard most of all. When I broke up with him last time, we stayed friends. Oh, it was weird, at first, but we made it work. But, now? He's gone, and I'm never going to see him again, and it's all my fault and I…I…I…" Penny didn't finish, she started sobbing again.

Jeanie just held on to her, until she stopped. Penny finally sat back, then rose, saying she'd be right back. She was back within 30 seconds, after getting the tissue box from the bathroom. She sat down, saying, "I'm such a mess, all I do is think about how much I miss him. Then think about how I've screwed my life up, when I couldn't bring myself to talk to him, because I was afraid of telling him what had happened."

"Penny, you had a rough couple of months," said Jeanie, "and now you know you've been raped, so you really shouldn't think that it's your fault."

"Not the rape, Jeanie," said Penny, "But how I screwed up by avoiding talking to Leonard, or not being able to tell him what I originally thought had happened. Not to mention the stupid thing I did by breaking up with him."

"Penny, I don't think there's anything you can do about that, now. You know I'm going to be here to make sure it gets better for you. I'll help you get through it, and you've been home, with nothing to do because we haven't been shooting. Tomorrow, we'll get our scripts, so we'll go back to work, so you won't have time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself."

Penny looked at Jeanie, with some fear in her eyes, "But, Brent will be there too, and I'm still not sure I want to go back, maybe just quit the business."

"We'll figure something out," said Jeanie, "to get you past that. Getting you to a therapist, to help you, with all of that, that's what we need to do."

Penny looked up and Jeanie could see a hopeful look on Penny's face, "I can always depend on you."

"Yes, you can, but, I have to tell you this," said Jeanie. "My parents are coming back from Florida, and they will be spending tomorrow night, so I won't be here tomorrow, after around 3 PM. You can come with me, and spend time with them."

"No," said Penny, "you should spend the time with them, not me."

"Are you sure?" said Jeanie, "are you going to be all right?"

Penny looked at Jeanie, and gave her a half smile, "Yeah, I'll be able to make through."

"OK, then," said Jeanie, "for now, I'm, going to run back to my apartment, start some laundry, and I'll be back. I'll bring some movies with me and we can spend the rest of the day here, watching movies, and then order some Chinese food for dinner, how's that?"

Penny smiled weakly and nodded.

 **Room 308, Lindemann Building, 10:00 AM Wednesday January 2nd 2013.**

Geoff had first taken Leonard to the Kettell building, and they had each taken one piece of Leonard's luggage, up to his rooms. Afterward, Geoff dropped him at his office building. Leonard wanted to put away those things he had left in his office a few days ago, before going back to his rooms. He finished putting the last things in his desk drawer, closed and locked it. He looked around and realized it would look more like his office, when he got his two crates, with most of his books. He would have to call today, to set up an appointment to deliver those crates.

He left the building, where his office was, to walk to his rooms carrying his now empty suitcase. He walked along Parks Road and while had his coat on, it wasn't as cold as he expected. _This won't be too bad._ It had been colder, on some days in Pasadena, and it was even sunny today. Although, Geoff's wife recommended Leonard should get a heavy coat. She insisted, and Geoff agreed, that today was unusual and when the expected colder weather arrived, Leonard would need a heavier coat, then he had.

He got to the entrance to Trinity College, on Broad Street, opened the entrance and went to his rooms. He dropped off his suitcase, used the bathroom, and then looked at the clock, deciding it was time for lunch. He went back out the Broad Street entrance, turned to his left and went to The White Horse pub. He looked at the menu and ordered fish and chips, with a side salad, along with an ale. As he waited for his food, he thought about putting away all of his things. He had three suitcases, one was now empty, one he hadn't opened since he left the US, and the final one, which held the clothes he had used on his trip over here. His salad was brought out, and he quit thinking about his things, and concentrated on his food.

 **Apt 314, NY, 12:30 PM Wednesday January 2nd 2013.**

Penny and Jeanie were finishing up their lunch. They had both gotten up at 9 AM, Penny was still down about missing Pasadena, and Jeanie had tried, for two hours, while they had their morning coffee, to cheer her up, and failed. Jeanie then tried to get Penny's mind off of things, by asking what she thought would be in the new script. That seemed to work, as they went back and forth, discussing what had happened in the previous episodes. Jeanie started making lunch, and asked Penny to help, while they continued talking about the script. When their soup and salads were ready, they continued talking about it, while they ate. After they were finished eating, they cleaned up, washed, dried and put away the dishes, then got some tea, waiting for their scripts to arrive.

It was just after one, when there was a knock on the door, and upon answering it, they found the messenger, requesting their signatures. They signed and took the scripts into the apartment and spent the next several hours going over their parts, reading lines for the other and making their choices, for their characters. Finally, around three, they put their scripts down. Jeanie had to get ready to leave to pick up her parents. She again urged Penny to come with her. Her parents liked her, and she was taking them out for dinner tonight, before they spent the night in Jeanie's apartment. Penny again declined, as she felt Jeanie should spend time with her parents and she didn't need her tagging along. Jeanie again asked if she was going to be all right by herself, and again Penny assured she would be fine. Penny told her she needed to pick up some food for the next few days, then planned to go to the Indian restaurant and pick up some food for her dinner.

Jennie reminded Penny that her parents would be picked up around 8:30 the next morning, and Jeanie would come by as soon as they left. Penny told her she would be ready, and maybe they could go in a bit early. They hugged before Jeanie left, then Penny went into her room and changed, to go to the store. Once there, she picked up several days of food, some milk, and was getting ready to leave, when she came across a display with her favorite wine. She hesitated, then decided she had been doing well enough, over the last few days, that she would be able to handle a glass or two, so she picked up four bottles, paid for all her items and left the store. She stopped at the Indian restaurant, paid for her food, and left for home. Penny put away her cold things, then sat down to eat, pouring herself a glass of wine. While she ate, she went through her script again, until she was finished eating. She did her dishes, then poured a glass of tea, then sat down to watch some television.

 **Kettell Hall, 8:30 PM Wednesday January 2nd 2013.**

After lunch, Leonard had walked back to his room, and opened up his suitcases. Before starting to put things away, he called to arrange the delivery of his crates. Both would be delivered here to his room in the morning, and after pulling out the non-office items, the movers would bring the rest of his things to his office. He had also called to book breakfast and dinner at the Dining Hall for the next day. He spent the rest of the afternoon putting most of his things away, leaving only one suitcase to go, when Goeff came by to bring Leonard to his home, for dinner.

Dinner was pleasant, as was the hour afterward, while Leonard, Geoff and his wife talked. Geoff wanted Leonard to stay longer, and presented Leonard with two bottles of wine. Leonard was appreciative, but he wanted to get back, so he could finish putting his things away. Leonard got back to his rooms at 7:30, and started on his last suitcase. This suitcase was all clothes, so he removed them and started hanging them in the wardrobes. He was almost finished, when he came upon the jewelry case. He took that and put it in the bottom drawer of his nightstand, then went back out to what he thought of as his living room. He looked at the last item in his luggage, the blue blanket, with sleeves. He started choking up, thinking of Penny and when she gave it to him. His eyes were filling with tears, and a loud sob escaped him. He went into the other room, he laid down on his bed, holding the blanket tightly to him, crying.

 **Apt 314, NY, 6:30 PM Wednesday January 2nd 2013.**

Penny was still watching TV, but the news had come on. She kept watching, when there was a segment on the previous day's Rose Parade, explaining all the different flowers and plants found on the floats. There were also some shots of various places around Pasadena, reminding her of Leonard, and her friends, and Penny became upset, her eyes starting to fill with tears. Although she tried, she couldn't get the memories of Leonard out of her mind, and she started crying.

She thought about calling Jeanie, but she didn't want to bother her, while she was with her parents. Finally, wanting not to think about those things, she went to her fridge, and poured another glass of wine, and brought the bottle to the coffee table. She felt that it was going to be another rough night for her, and without Jeanie to keep her occupied, she would need the wine to help her forget about things.

 **Kettell Hall, 8:00 AM Thursday January 3rd 2013**

Leonard had just gotten back from the dining hall. His alarm had gone off at 7 AM, and he had gotten up with a headache. He had cried, holding the blanket for a bit, then he had started drinking the wine Geoff had given him, finishing one of the bottles. He was trying to not think about Penny, however, it did allow him to finally get asleep. Now, he took some aspirin, drank some water, and then went through his usual morning routine, although it was strange for him, doing this in his rooms for the first time. He had gotten dressed in one of his suits, as he was pretty sure it wasn't appropriate for a member of the faculty to wear tennis shoes, jeans, and t-shirt, to the dining room, even on his day off. With school still off, there were only two or three people in the dining hall, and Leonard hadn't talked to anyone.

Now, he had come back and changed into his jeans, t-shirt and hoodie, while he waited for the movers. At 8:15 AM, there was a knock on his door. He rose and opened his door, finding the movers there. They gave Leonard the paperwork to look over, while they went to bring the two crates up. They brought the first crate to near the door in the hallway and removed one side, then went to get the other crate. While they were doing that, Leonard was removing things that would be going into his rooms here, putting them in the room, and leaving things going to his office, in the crate. He was just finishing the first crate, when they brought up the second crate. They opened that and Leonard went through it, finding everything that was to go to his office, and all of it was put in the first crate. The movers put the side piece back on, then took the first crate down to the truck, as Leonard started taking the rest of his things out of the second crate, scattering them throughout his room.

The movers came back, and watched Leonard finish putting the last of his things in the room. They took the second crate back down to the truck, while Leonard got ready to go. Walking down to the truck, he gave them the building and office number, telling them he would meet them there, in about a half hour, then he started walking. About 25 minutes later, he met the movers at his office, and it took about 10 minutes to remove everything from the crate, again scattering the things he removed, across the room. When it was empty, the movers took the empty crate, had Leonard sign the paperwork, and they left. Leonard looked around the office and realized he had four or five hours of work ahead of him. _I better get started,_ he thought, then started opening one of the boxes.


	83. Chapter 82

**A/N Somehow, this chapter became the longest chapter of the story (I don't see any of the upcoming chapters beating this one. But, I had to get that conversation in here). So, I moved the last section from here, into chapter 83. This chapter is still the longest, but now only by 50 or so words, instead of the almost 400, before I moved that section. After this chapter, I start tying things up, as there is only three chapters and an epilogue left. I got my final copy edit back yesterday. And, I sent off the third chapter of my next story off this past week. And, I've been cast in another play. So, arts wise, things are going well. Have fun.**

 **Chapter 82**

 **Apt 314, 9:15 AM Thursday January 3rd 2013.**

Jeanie took the elevator down, with her parents, walked out of the building and waited with them for the car she ordered for them. When it arrived, they put her parents' luggage in the vehicle, said their goodbyes, and Jeanie waved as her parents were driven off. She carried her bag and purse, back into the building, took the elevator to the third floor and knocked on Penny's door. There was no answer, so she knocked again. After a few seconds, she knocked and rang the doorbell. Still not getting an answer, she pulled out her key, opened the door and entered the apartment.

She didn't hear anything, as she walked up the hallway. It was quiet in the kitchen, the coffee pot was off, so she turned toward Penny's bedroom. Entering, it was still dark so she turned on the light. There in the bed, still asleep, was Penny. Jeanie walked to the bed and shook her. This elicited a groan from Penny, but no movement. Jeanie shook her harder, getting more groans, and some movement. Jeanie was getting angry, and she threw back the covers, and started shaking Penny, not stopping until Penny opened her eyes.

Jeanie could see her eyes were bloodshot, and they didn't look like they were focussing. "How damn much did you drink last night?"

"I don't know," said Penny, rubbing her face, "three, four, bottles?"

"What the fuck, Penny," said Jeanie angrily. "Get your ass up." She tried to help Penny up, but Penny was having trouble sitting straight. When Jeanie tried to help Penny to her feet, she couldn't stand and fell back onto the bed.

She tried to get Penny to her feet, again, and Penny said, "Hey, not so rough."

When she said those words, Jeanie could smell the alcohol on her breath, She looked down at Penny and angrily said, "Why are you still drunk? You knew we had to work today, and I told you to be professional. This is bullshit Penny."

"I saw some things about the parade," said Penny. "It made me sad and homesick, so I got a couple of drinks. I had a few more, then I thought about Leonard, and then…about…about…I…was…drugged…raped. So, I just kept drinking, I just didn't fucking care."

"What about work today?"

"I don't care," said Penny. "I sat up thinking last night, and I decided I didn't want to work on the series anymore," Penny burped, "and I think I finally got to bed around five." As she finished the sentence, Penny started sobbing.

Jeanie looked down at the crying woman. Penny was still drunk and with only three hours or so of sleep, she would not be in any shape, to make it to the studio today. There wasn't much Jeanie could do, so she told her to get back into bed, and she would take care of it with Kelli and Jim, but the two of them would talk when she got back. Jeanie walked out of the bedroom and could see four bottles on the coffee table. She looked closer, and found three of them empty, and the fourth almost empty. Jeanie shook her head, picked up her purse, and her bag, leaving the apartment.

 **Studio 44, 10:05 AM Thursday January 3rd 2013.**

Jeanie was late, so she went right to the table, instead of her dressing room. As she sat, she didn't see Jim and Kelli. Tina walked up, and asked, "Where's Penny?"

Jeanie thought fast, "She wasn't feeling well this morning, and I told her to stay home. I need to talk to Jim and Kelli about it, where are they?"

"They're upstairs," said Tina, "the studio head called them up, just before they came out here. There's things going on this morning, but I don't know what."

 _That's unusual, Tina knows everything that's going on,_ thought Jeanie. _Oh my God, did we get cancelled?_ Not seeing Jim and Kelli, Jeanie went to craft services and got a cup of coffee. She returned to her seat and seeing Brent had arrived, glared daggers at him, while he tried to ignore her. It was only about 30 seconds after she got back to the table that Jim and Kelli walked in. _They look happy_ , _I guess we didn't get cancelled, but I'm going to mess with those happy looks today,_ thought Jeanie.

Jim asked everyone to settle down and be seated. While that was happening, he looked around and then leaned over and whispered to Jeanie, "Where's Penny?"

Jeanie whispered back, "She's not going to be here, let's just say she's ill for now. I need to talk to you after the table read." Jim leaned over to Kelli and whispered to her. She looked, questionably, at Jeanie, who nodded.

Everyone was now quiet, and Jim said, "Good morning everyone, welcome back. I hope everyone had a good holiday season. I have several bits of news this morning, so let's get to it. First and most important, I got a call this morning from the head of the network, we have been renewed for a second season."

There were loud cheers, hugs, and handshaking. Jim let that go on for a bit, then asked for quiet. When everyone settled down, he continued. "While our ratings haven't been the greatest, they have been better than a few other shows. With this, and a few other things, they decided we deserved a second season. So, congratulations everyone."

There was some more cheering and after that slowed down, Jim continued, "On a more serious note, over the last couple of months, we found out someone had been feeding false information and false stories about Penelope, to some of the paparazzi. Well, over the break, through various clues, we were able to piece together that Lynn Thompson, one of the dressers, was the one doing it. She has been fired."

Jeanie noticed the smile on Brent's face, disappear.

"Let me make this perfectly clear, if you work here, you keep what happens in the studio, in the studio. If you think there is a problem, you bring it to either me or Kelli. If you feel you need privacy, let us know and we'll set it up for you to see us in the office. If there is something bothering you, what you do not do is to take it to the rag papers, is that understood?"

Everyone was murmuring and nodding their heads.

Jim continued, "So, if you hear or see something like this, we expect you to bring it to our attention. We don't want things like this happening on this show. One more note, Penelope is not here today, so Kelli will be reading her part. Any other questions? Then let's get started." Everyone opened their scripts and they began the table read.

 **Studio 44, 11:30 AM Thursday January 3rd 2013.**

Jeanie knocked on the door and she heard Kelli say, "Come in."

Jeanie entered and Jim pointed to the couch, and Jeanie sat down. Jim and Kelli pulled up chairs and Jim said, "OK, you said you needed to talk to us, I'm assuming this is about why Penny wasn't here?"

Jeanie paused briefly, thinking about how she was going to explain everything. "I told her to stay home, she wouldn't have been able to do anything at the table read. She was still drunk, with only three hours of sleep, she wouldn't have been much use, here, this morning."

Jeanie saw the reactions, Kelli looked shocked, but Jim looked angry, so she hurriedly continued. "Yes, she got drunk last night, but you need to hear the rest of this, because you have a problem here, on set, and I don't think I can keep this in much longer, especially with what you said this morning."

"OK, tell us," said Jim.

Jeanie sighed, "I've been struggling with whether I should tell you this, so this may be rough for me, so take that into account." She paused, then started in, "Do you remember, a couple of months ago, when Penny left Jake's, with Brent, to go to Brent's apartment, to go over the script?"

Both of the producers nodded.

"Well, the two of them spent the night together," said Jeanie, "Penny remembers having two drinks, and then waking up, she thought, hung over, the next morning. Actually, something more than hung over. She has no memory of what happened, she was disoriented, and had blurry vision. She thought she had cheated on her boyfriend, and between the guilt and shame, broke up with him. So, for the last two months, she's been feeling down about everything and she started drinking, trying to forget what she did with Brent, and the breakup with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was so messed up by the breakup, he left the US, for a position at Oxford, in England, which also has her reeling."

"What does any of this have to do with us, or here, on set?" asked Jim.

Jeanie again paused, trying to find the right words, "I've been asking around, some of my friends that have worked with Brent. Several have had the same thing happen to them, with Brent."

"So, your friends got drunk and had sex with Brent," said Jim, "just like Penny. So what?"

"I think there's more to it than that," said Kelli, looking at Jeanie, "am I right?"

"Yes, you are," said Jeanie. "One of my friends, does not drink, yet she had the same things not usually associated with being hung over. Dizziness, blurred vision, not feeling right until the next day. All of the women who had those symptoms spent time with Brent, at his house or apartment. I just put it together last week, finding all the symptoms aren't necessarily part of being hung over, but all of them are from being drugged. I think he drugged and raped them, Penny included. Penny's been struggling with this since I put it all together, and when you add her breakup, her guilt, her shame, it's really been too much for her."

Kelli gasped, and Jim looked shocked. "Do you have any proof of this?" he asked.

"No, of course not," said Jeanie.

"Did any of the other women report him?" asked Jim.

"No, they didn't," said Jeanie, "some because they felt it was too late to report it, some worried it would be nothing more than his word against theirs, some flat out didn't think they would be believed, so nothing would come of it. Penny…Penny…sorry, Penny is pretty much in all three of those categories."

"And what can we do about it?" asked Jim

"There's more."

"More what?" said Jim sounding exasperated.

"After it happened," started Jeanie, "Brent started making lewd and nasty comments to Penny. Then he told some of the crew, and they started making some of the same comments. I understand he's even told some of the guest stars. At one point, Penny was terrified to go to her dressing room, because she was afraid she'd run into Brent. She didn't feel as if she could say anything, because it would be his word against hers. Sometimes, there would be other people who hung out with Brent, but they made comments and Penny felt they would support Brent, not her. She told me about how one of the cameramen came to her, telling her what he had heard here, and what had happened on another show he and Brent were on. Brent had tried to get the cameraman to join in with the comments, to one of the women on the show, but he wouldn't. It may have spooked Brent, because soon after that, Brent, and his buddies complained about the cameraman being the one making the comments, and he got fired off that other show."

"How do you know this is what's happening?" asked Kelli

"After Penny told me, I went with her everywhere," said Jeanie. "When she goes to her dressing room, I go with her and when it's time to leave, I go get her. We've run into Brent several times on the stairs. A couple of times, he didn't see me right away and started to say something. When he saw me, he stopped. Or, if he sees me with her, he looks at me like he's mad and he doesn't say anything even with someone there. This is all besides what the cameraman told Penny. See, he doesn't say anything with me there, because he probably thinks that if I say something I'll be believed, but Penny is new and won't say anything, she'll just put up with it. So, all of what's happening with Penny, the reason she was hungover this morning, is due to her being raped by Brent and his continuing harassment of her."

"Hold on," said Jim, in frustration, "you have no proof that he raped her, and you have no proof of him harassing her, all of this is just hearsay, so unless you…"

"I believe her," said Kelli.

"What do you mean, you believe her?" said Jim. "She said she didn't have any proof."

"Jim, how many times have I told you stories about what's happened to me?" said Kelli. "Being pressured to go somewhere, alone, with someone, trying to get me to go drinking, the groping I've had to put up with, the innuendo about what I would have to do, to get my writing accepted."

"Too many to count."

"You know a couple of the women that could be involved in the stories about Bill Cosby, right?"

"Yeah, I do," said Jim. "You know them too."

"Do you believe me?" said Kelli. "Did you believe the other women we know?"

Jim nodded.

"Which is one reason why I believe her," said Kelli.

"Just one?"

"No, there's another," said Kelli. "I heard rumors about those problems with Brent when we wrote other shows. I was warned about being alone with him. As he was picked by the network, I didn't feel I could say something, without some hard proof."

"OK, you believe her," said Jim. "What can we do about it?"

"About the rape? Well, nothing really." said Kelli. "About the harassment, you and I talked about putting in some cameras and mics, for the paparazzi thing, but we both agree that isn't really an option, it's like we would be spying on everyone."

"Yeah that's true," said Jim, "but, we have to come up with something, we can't have this kind of harassment on our set."

"That's true," said Kelli, "maybe we can talk to Penny, get her to tell us, and then tell her what we're doing."

"No," said Jeanie, "don't tell Penny any specifics. Just tell her you're doing something. This way she can honestly say she didn't come to you, and knows nothing about it."

Jim turned to her, "Actually, that makes sense. But, if we talk to her and say we've heard some things, and ask if they are true, she's not coming to us. Then we just don't tell her what we've done. Do you have anything else for us Jeanie?"

"No," said Jeanie, "I just wanted you to be aware of what happened, what I think happened and why. Because it's really affected Penny."

"Yes," said Kelli, "but now I'm worried about Penny. I can see where this might have been too much for her. It's a shame, really, with what's coming up."

"What do you mean?" said Jeanie.

"Jeanie," Kelli said softly, "we were on the fence to get renewed, one of the reasons we got renewed is because of Penny. The network likes her and wants her in more scenes, for now."

"Well then you may have a problem," said Jeanie. "She's thinking about quitting the business."

Jim and Kelli looked at Jeanie, and Kelli said, "She said that?"

"Yeah, it's getting to be overwhelming for her," said Jeanie. "With everything that's happened, she is really down about it. I thought I might be able to help her through it, to get her to straighten out. But she flat out said this morning, that she didn't care about missing today, and doesn't want to work on the series anymore. That may be because she was still drunk, I don't know. She has to want to stay on the series, I'm not going to force her to stay in the business."

"I hope all of us can convince her to stay," said Jim, "What she doesn't know, and you can't tell her, is that when this show ends, or perhaps before, the network wants to do a spin off with her character."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," said Kelli. "It could be good for you, you could make a guest appearance a couple or three times a year."

Jeanie nodded, "Well, that's nice, but I'm more concerned about getting Penny through this, even if she quits. I've been thinking about one way to help her. How about she move in with me? I have two bedrooms, she could move her stuff up to my place and I can kinda watch over her, and give her someone to lean on, if she needs it. I'm also going to try and get her to see my therapist. It's not good for her to keep it in, she needs to talk to someone about it, and about her drinking. She starts feeling bad, she looks to drink. I think my therapist can help her there too. But, I want to make it clear that helping her is my main concern. If she decides she needs to ditch the business, to get right, then so be it, and I'm telling her that."

Kelli was nodding, "Ok, you get her to move in with you, get her to your therapist, and we'll talk to her tomorrow. But, I fully agree with you, about her continuing in the show, it's up to Penny, we will not put pressure on her. We will tell her why we think she should continue, but, as much as I would like to get another series, I'm more concerned about her mental health, OK? I agree with you that her mental health is more important than any show."

Kelli looked seriously at Jeanie, "I can't believe you kept all this in. It must have been some kind of weight on you."

Jeanie sighed and nodded, "Yes, it has. I've been trying to keep Penny going, helping her along, and trying to get her over it, and I've made mistakes along the way. When she's alone, she'll see something that reminds her of her boyfriend, or the rape, and she falls apart. But, after this morning, I knew I had to tell you."

"Yes, telling us was good," said Jim, nodding. "We can help and we can start throwing ideas around, hoping we might find something we can use, with this Brent thing. If we figure something out, we'll let you know, but we won't tell Penny."

Jeanie got up to leave, and getting to the door turned, "Can we get Tina to do Penny's blocking and write it down, so I can give it to her tonight?"

"Why, if she want to quit," asked Kelli .

"It may have just been the booze talking," said Jeanie. "Once she's sober, she may have different ideas. And if she does change her mind, she'll have everything she needs to study."

Kelli and Jim nodded and Jeanie opened the door and left.

Jim looked over at Kelli, "We need to find out which of our cameramen were fired from a show that had Brent on it, then talk to him. If the harassment is true, and he can confirm it, we can take action."

"What do you mean, if true," asked Kelli."

"Kelli," said Jim, "we can't just do something to Brent, without some kind of verification. I've come around and I think what Jeanie is saying is true, but we still have to verify it. I've already got an idea on how to take care of Brent, if we can verify it."

"OK," said Kelli, "I'll look up the show histories of our cameramen, and then cross check it with shows Brent's been on."

"And I'll start work on my idea for Brent," said Jim. "Let's get on it."

 **Kettell Hall, 5:00 PM Thursday January 3rd 2013**

Leonard had put the final item on his desk, and had cut his last box apart, around noon. While he was, then, basically done with his office, he had to find a place for a few more things before he would consider himself finished. He would get to that next week, what he wanted now was to get to lunch on his way back to his rooms. He had stopped at the White Horse again. While he had never been a big fan of fish, there was something about the way it was prepared, here in the UK, that had him wanting it again. After lunch, he started on his room, putting his clothes in the wardrobes, and in dressers, and now he was basically done with those.

He thought he'd leave the rest for this evening, as he had to start getting ready for dinner, his first in the dining hall. It would also be the first time he wore an academic gown, other than for graduation. He would order his tomorrow, but for now, he had Geoff's. It was time for a shower, as he went to his bathroom.


	84. Chapter 83

**A/N Yes, the cost for the new clothes is accurate, as of 2013. Two more and an epilogue to go. I'm up to chapter five of my next story. I'm looking at a two to three week break between the last of this one, and the start of the new one. So, look for it around the end of March, beginning of April. I'll remind everyone, again, at the end of this one. The new one will be no where near as long as this one, say, 15 or so chpaters, of around 2000 words. Oh, BTW, this is now the longest chapter.**

 **Chapter 83**

 **Studio 44, 1:00 PM Thursday January 3rd 2013.**

Jeanie was sitting in her director's chair, waiting to start the afternoon's blocking. The rest of the cast and crew was waiting and finally Jim and Kelli walked out, and asked everyone to gather around.

After everyone was quiet, Jim started speaking, "It has come to my attention that there may be some problems rumbling around on set. I don't have the full story yet, so I don't know all the individuals that could possibly be involved. But, we need to stop it now, and we will continue to investigate."

"So, here it is. Some people on set are being harassed," Jim was looking around, but keeping an eye on Brent. He saw everyone else was looking around, but noticing Brent was looking down, "Kelli and I do not condone any type of harassment on this set or on this show. I feel everyone should be act like an adult, and be treated like an adult. However, if you are acting like a child, and trying to bully or harass someone, we really don't need you here, and we will get rid of you."

"So, from here on out, Jim continued, "if you are being bothered or harassed, by anyone, you report it to either Kelli or myself. If you see any kind of harassment, you report it to either Kelli or I. Because, if you don't, and we find out you knew about it, you will be gone, just like the person doing the harassment. As I said, we will continue to investigate this, and anyone we find causing these kinds of problems, or who knows about it and doesn't report it, well, I'll just remind everyone about what happened with the person who was giving information to the paparazzi."

Jim looked around sternly, "Are there any questions? No? Every one got it?" He looked around and saw everyone nodding, "Ok then I'll turn you over to Steven, and you all can get started on your blocking."

 **Kettell Hall, 8:00 PM Thursday January 3rd 2013**

Leonard had just finished up connecting his PS3 console to the television set Geoff had loaned him. It was an extra one that Leonard would return after he bought his own. The plan for tomorrow was to go and buy clothes a professor at Oxford required. Leonard chuckled, thinking of them as his adult clothes.

He had found dinner wonderful. Several of the servers were surprised by his American accent, and after explaining, he was told he should sit at the High Table. To Leonard, that looked like a dais, so he went up there and sat down. Shortly, several other apparent faculty came up to the table and sat down. Leonard now had a group around him, asking questions, because they heard his accent. Dinner consisted of roast beef, asparagus, and Yorkshire pudding. Leonard had never had Yorkshire pudding, but found it delightful. They even had wine with dinner.

His accent also got the attention of several chairs on either side of him, as Leonard explained he had just arrived from CalTech and would be doing research, teaching physics, and doing tutorials, here at Trinity. After dinner, he spent some time talking to the different fellows, as they called themselves, even the women, and Leonard was going to have to ask Geoff about what exactly his title was. As the group started to break up, Leonard left and arriving back to his rooms, he decided to set up his gaming console and was now looking forward to playing some Grand Theft Auto.

 **Apt 314, 3:15 PM Thursday January 3rd 2013.**

Jeanie had just arrived back at the apartment building and instead of going to her apartment, she went to Penny's. Kelli and her had talk a bit more during the afternoon, and Jeanie got approval to move Penny into Jeanie's apartment.

She knocked on 314 and waited. Soon Penny came to the door, and asked Jeanie in. Jeanie was pleased to see that Penny was drinking tea, and asked her for a glass. While Penny got the tea, Jeanie unpacked her bag. After Penny returned, Jeanie dropped a script in front of her and said, "Here's all your blocking for the show. Tina took your place and wrote everything in. You might want to write your own notes and blocking into this, it'll make it easier, if you decide you still want to work in the business."

Penny ignored that comment and said, "What did you tell them?"

Jeanie thought about how to tell Penny, then decided to be blunt, "Before the table read, I told them you were ill. Then after the table read I talked to Jim and Kelli, in private, and told them you were hung over and still drunk."

Penny gasped, her eyes starting to fill with tears, "You told them I was still drunk?"

"Yep, I did, because you were," said Jeanie. "Then, I told them the reason why. About what happened between you and Brent, that I thought he drugged you, that he and his friends are still harassing you and that they needed to do something about it, because you are thinking of quitting."

"Oh my God, no," said Penny, still in shock, "What did they say?"

Jeanie continued, "Jim wanted to know if we had proof, but of course I told him we didn't, just a pattern of things that happened with other women."

"See," said Penny, "I told you no one would believe me."

"Someone did," said Jeanie, "Kelli spoke up and reminded Jim about all the problems she's had over the years with various men in the business and some things she has heard about Brent. So now, while they both agree there isn't really anything they can do to Brent, legally, they also both agree that it happened and are trying to come up with some ideas, to solve the problem. We left it there, for now, but, I need to tell you some big news. We have been renewed for a second season."

A large smile spread over Penny's face, "Really?"

"Yes, really," said Jeanie. "You're smiling, are you happy about it?"

"Sure I'm happy," said Penny, "why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, your comments about quitting the show, for one and quitting the business," said Jeanie, "that doesn't sound as if you'd be happy for the show to continue."

Penny hung her head, "Well, with what happened with Brent, and breaking up, and pissing off my friends, just all of that, how badly I fucked up, it has me down. I was drunk and feeling frustrated this morning, and I really don't know how to fix any of it. So, yes, I am happy for everyone else, but with all this on my mind, I think it might be better for me to go home and not bother anyone with it."

Jeanie was nodding as Penny mentioned everything. "Look, I can't help you with what happened with Brent, or your breakup, or the other things. I can try to help you from drinking too much, and help you at work. So, we're going to start trying to fix that now."

"What do you mean?"

"After talking to Jim and Kelli, they have concerns. They are worried your mental health, and how much you've been drinking. So, we came up with the beginning of a plan to try to keep you here."

"A plan? What? What do you mean?"

Jeanie looked at Penny for a few seconds and said flatly, "You are going to move into my apartment, into the second bedroom."

"What?"

"I told you, you're moving in," said Jeanie. "You are also going with me everywhere I go, or I go where you go, until I'm satisfied you can be trusted alone, without drinking. We are going to cut down on your drinking, and I am going to set you up with an appointment to see my psychologist. After the first one, if you want to see someone else, that's fine, but you will see someone."

"I don't need to see no shrink," said Penny, sounding a bit angry. "I'm fine."

Jeanie looked sad, "Penny, no you're not. You've been through a lot in the last couple of months. You are drinking too much, and to me you look and act depressed. Now, I'm not a therapist, so I can't say you're depressed. So, it won't hurt you to talk to someone who is a professional. Someone that can recognize what's wrong, and help you with it. I'll tell you that Kelli and Jim both want you to see one, even if you quit the show, because they care about you, and think it will help you."

"But, I talk to you." said Penny.

"I'm not a professional," said Jeanie. "Go see my shrink, talk to her, if you don't feel comfortable, find someone else, but dammit, find someone."

"I don't know," said Penny, "let me talk to Kelli, then think about it who I want to see."

Jeanie thought about that for a few seconds. She didn't think it would help to push her just now, but she wanted to give her a dead-line, so she said, "OK, I'll give you until next week to pick someone. But, for now, start grabbing your things. I'll help and we'll get everything up to my…er, our place now."

Penny nodded at that, thinking, _I'm probably better off, with Jeanie. I think I'll enjoy having someone to share things with. I have my own TV I can put in the bedroom. We can eat together, and if I'm feeling down, I'll have someone to talk to without drinking…_ _Hmmmmmm, maybe I should go to her shrink._

Penny said, "Ok, we'll start with the bedroom, and we should be able to get everything up there early enough for me to have a place to sleep, and to go over and enter everything in my script."

Jeanie came up and hugged Penny and said, "So, we still have you with the show."

Penny smiled, "For now. I'll see after talking to Jim and Kelli, or after I see a therapist, if I decide to go."

"OK," said Jeanie, "let's get you moved."

 **Raj's apartment, 8:15 PM Thursday January 3rd 2013.**

Raj was back at his apartment. He had gone to Howard and Bernadette's apartment, but there was no answer when he had knocked several times. He called Howard and found that they were out at dinner, and then they were going to a movie. He had then attempted to go to Apartment 4A, but again there was no one home, and upon calling Sheldon, found that it was he and Amy's date night, and they wouldn't be home until after the movie they were seeing. _I'm going to have to learn to call before going over to either place anymore._

He turned on the TV, but there wasn't anything he really wanted to watch, so he shut it off. He looked over his video games, but none of them appealed to him either, so he sat with his beer thinking. _Is this going to be the next few years here? Howard and Bernadette together, but too busy to find time to be with me. Or, Sheldon and Amy together, but they are also too busy? I guess I could try to find some other friends._ _It seems like I don't have any friends here anymore and I can't talk to women, to date them. Maybe I should just call Daddy and find out if he and Mummy could set up an arranged marriage, for me._

He continued thinking about this for a few minutes, then sighed and turned on the TV again, hoping to find something to watch.

 **Kettell Hall, 3:00 PM Friday January 4th 2013**

Leonard was in his room, hanging the two new suits he had brought home. Both of these had been close enough to his size that the alterations were not extensive, and could be done while he was picking out the rest of his items. So, he was able to take them along, when he left the shop. He had also bought six dress shirts, some dress socks, a few ties, a couple of belts and two pairs of shoes. He had also picked out the two different gowns to wear during those occasions, such as dinner in the dining hall, that required them. The four other suits would be ready by next Tuesday,

He was shocked at how much he had spent, over 3000 pounds, and after converting it, he found it had been just over 5000 dollars. Although, he had to admit, he looked rather good in them, the cut of these suits looked much better on him than his other suits. He thought, _I could get to like this._ Leonard had asked Geoff to help him pick out his clothes, and while they were doing it, Geoff explained that a well-dressed faculty was something of a tradition here, and that it was considered important. Geoff had also recommended getting a tux for those formal occasions, but Leonard had put it off for now.

Leonard was getting nervous about Monday. He would start to meet all the physics faculty, the lab group, and most importantly, his boss. He had talked to Alain, on the phone, but meeting him was a different thing altogether. Geoff tried to calm him, by telling him all the faculty was happy Leonard had decided to come to Oxford. That the lab group, and faculty, was well aware of both his experimental and theoretical work, and were impressed by it, so he shouldn't worry.

He had finished hanging up everything, and now was just waiting for Geoff to return. He had told Leonard he had a few errands to run, in town, so he would do that while Leonard put away his clothes. He would pick him up on the way back to his house, as he had invited Leonard to dinner. Now that Leonard was done, there wasn't anything to do except to wait. He took a bottle of water out of the fridge, turned on the TV, and sat down to wait for Geoff to return.

 **Studio 44, 1:30 PM Friday January 4th 2013.**

Penny was in her dressing room. She was eating the salad she had gotten from craft services, while she pretended to go over her script. What she was really doing was thinking about everything that had happened this morning. Her and Jeanie had gotten up at 8:30 AM. Jeanie getting her shower, while Penny put on the coffee. When the coffee was ready, she got herself a cup and sat at the table, thinking that moving in here was probably a good thing, it will help her keep from drinking so much. She was also thinking, but wasn't sure, about going to see Jeanie's shrink. Penny then considered that her things were still a bit scattered, between the two apartments, but she would have all that done this weekend.

Jeanie came out, and Penny took her shower, then got dressed. By the time she was done, Jeanie was ready and they both left the apartment, headeding to work. After they arrived, Jeanie walked Penny up to her dressing room, and then left. Penny unpacked her things, went over her script for a bit, then heard three quick knocks. She gathered up her things and opened the door. She had known it was Jeanie from the knocks, she had told her to knock three times, and they went down to the set.

Just after 10 AM, Jim and Kelli came out to give their morning talk. Afterward, Penny asked if she could say something, and Penny apologized to the cast and crew for missing the previous day and thanked Jeanie for taking care of her, while she had been ill. Penny noticed Jim and Kelli both looking at her. She was a bit nervous about that, but she remembered that while they knew everything that was happening, Jeanie had told everyone else that Penny had been ill. They had done a run-through, and then started working on the scenes. At 1 PM, they had called lunch and Penny had gotten her food, and taken it to her dressing room, with Jeanie walking with her.

Suddenly, she heard a single knock on her door. She cracked the door, and looking out saw it was Tina. She asked, "What's up, Tina?"

"Jim and Kelli want to see you in their office," said Tina. "Be there at 2:00 PM, and they said they will hold up the afternoon run-through, until they were finished talking to you."

"Did I do something?" asked Penny.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me anything, except to tell you to be there," said Tina, and she walked off.

 **Studio 44, 2:00 PM Friday January 4th 2013**

Penny knocked on the door, with some trepidation. After a few seconds, she heard Kelli say, "Come in," so she opened the door and walked into the office.

"Close the door and sit down, Penny," said Kelli.

Penny followed Kelli's instructions, then looked at both of them. "How much trouble am I in?"

Jim shook his head, "You're not in any trouble Penny, we just want to talk to you, try to find some things out and then help you get through some of the things Jeanie told us about."

"Jeanie said she told you, everything," said Penny.

Jim said, "She told us that you slept with Brent, but she thinks Brent raped you, but, you don't have any kind of proof of a rape. She also said that you thought it was just a case of getting drunk and having sex. Additionally, she told us you broke up with your boyfriend, and that you have been drinking pretty heavy, and were drunk yesterday morning. Is that about it?"

Penny felt ill as Jim ran down the list, but she nodded, "Yeah, that's it. I just felt so…so… slutty for cheating on my boyfriend and kept thinking I don't deserve him. So after I broke up with him, I started drinking to try to forget my problems. It really didn't work, but I was starting to get a handle on it, until Jeanie explained how she though I was raped, and now I feel so dirty and worthless. I guess I hit another low and started back drinking. I'm sorry, I missed yesterday."

Kelli looked at her, "Penny, you don't have to apologize again, you did that earlier. And this is really minor, as far as problems go, that we've seen, with actors. As for the rest, there isn't anything we can do about what happened with Brent, a couple of months ago. Nor, can we do anything about what happened between you and your boyfriend. All we can do now is try to come up with a plan, to help you get through this. Jeanie told us she was going to try to move you into her apartment, have you thought about that?"

"Actually, I moved most of my stuff there last night," said Penny. "I'll get the rest of it tonight, then spend the weekend cleaning the place up. I can turn it back over next week."

"That's good," said Jim, "just call Tammy, the woman who took you to your place when you first got here? Give her a call and she'll take care of it. There will also be a pay adjustment, with you living with Jeanie, as far as what we take out of your pay, you should get a bit more, well Jeanie will too. But, that's all minor stuff. We are more concerned about you, the reasons why you are moving into Jeanie's. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really," said Penny, "Jeanie seems to have told you everything. She's taking me in, to help control how much I drink. She's asked me to see her psychologist, and I'm wondering if you know anyone."

"No, I don't, but I can find one for you, if you want me to. I really think you should see someone," said Kelli softly. "Penny, if what Jeanie suspects is true, then you were raped, and you are going to need help to get through that. Then, you broke up with your boyfriend, so it's been a rough time for you, from what Jeanie told us. Just those two things by themselves are enough to mess you up, but with both of them? I really think seeing a professional can help you deal with it. There's also something else you should think about. While we think that Brent did something horrible to you, without any kind of corroboration or other evidence, we have nothing, legally, to get rid of him. That means, if you decide to stay in the business, you will have to continue to work with him. Do you really understand what that means?"

"What do you mean," asked Penny, "if I decide to stay in the business?"

Jim looked at her kindly, "Jeanie says you're thinking about leaving us, going back to Nebraska."

"I won't lie to you," said Penny. "I've been thinking about it. Between the the paparazzi, Brent, and being alone, I'm not sure I even want to be in the business anymore."

"Well," said Jim, "we'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it. We are here to get you through your current problems. If it takes you leaving the business, for you to feel better, then so be it. We don't think you should, but it's going to be up to you, and we won't pressure you to stay."

"Yeah, Jeanie told me that."

Kelli said, "Did she tell you we found out who was passing information to the paparazzi?"

"No, she didn't."

"We figured it out, and they were fired," said Jim. "So, that's one less problem for you. But, as I said, our concern right now is you. I'll say it again, if you getting healthy means you have to quit, we're OK with that. But, the question remains, do you really understand how much of a struggle it will be to work with Brent?"

"Yes, I do," said Penny. "that may be the most difficult thing of all, for me."

Kelli nodded, "Talking to a psychologist, may also help you with that."

She looked at Kelli and said, "What you say makes a lot of sense, I'm leaning toward going to see one, but having everything straight in my head, before I do, would be a big help."

"OK," said Kelli, "while we think getting everything straight, in your mind, is a good idea. We also strongly recommend that you see a therapist."

Penny rose, "Well, for now I'll stay and do the show. And, I'll think more on it, if I talk to a therapist. OK, is that it?"

Jim waved her to sit down. "There's one other thing, Brent and his friends harassing you."


	85. Chapter 84

**A/N A couple of things here. The other show described in this chapter (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see section** **) was real. It was called "The Rat Patrol" and the producers actually did what was described in here. The other thing, I make a reference to something in this chapter. It's a sort of old Hollywood reference. We'll see if someone spots it, and is able to say what the reference is, and explain the reference. I'll give out the answer next week. One chapter and one epilogue left.**

 **Chapter 84**

 **Studio 44, 2:15 PM Friday January 4th 2013**

"I didn't say they were harassing me," said Penny, looking down.

"I know you didn't," said Jim, "but, like I told you, Jeanie told us. We don't want you to be scared of walking around on the set and in the studio generally. I will let you know we got independent corroboration, of the harassment. We would like you to tell us, if there's been a problem, but with the information we have, we don't need to bring your name into it. Just let us know."

Penny nodded, "Yes, Brent has been making comments about what we did, and how we did it, and commenting on how I was in bed. Several of his friends in the crew also have made comments".

"Thank you," said Jim, "So, if you get any kind of harassment, from here on out, you need to let us know. We have a plan, you don't need to know about it, just be aware that after today, we want to know if you do get harassed, and who did it."

"But, that would make people think I was telling on people and I…"

"Penny, listen to me," said Kelli. "If we don't put a stop to it, we could lose control of the crew and the set. We don't want that kind of behavior on our sets, so you have to let us know. Like we said, we aren't telling you what we are going to do, so if anyone asks what going on, you can honestly say you don't know. But, we will do something, today, and after that we need to know, OK?"

"OK," said Penny. "Is there anything else?"

"No, that's it, for you," said Jim. "You can go get ready for the afternoon run-throughs."

Penny rose and left. Kelli looked at Jim and said, "When do we do this?"

"Right after rehearsals today," said Jim, "I want to make sure we have this under control. I'll talk to Brent here, you, and the head of the studio, will get the four guys on the crew."

Kelli nodded.

 **Studio 44, 6:00 PM Friday January 4th 2013**

"Come in," said Jim, hearing the knock on the door.

"Tina said you wanted to see me," said Brent.

"I do," said Jim, "come in and close the door."

Brent entered, closed the door and sat down.

Jim paused, he had prepared for this, but it was more difficult than he thought. Finally he decided to just plunge in, "Brent we have reports that you are causing problems with one of the other actors. We are not going to stand for that."

"I suppose Penelope told you about that," said Brent with a smirk.

"Nope," said Jim, "it wasn't her."

"Then she much have told it to that bitch, Jeanie, and she told you."

"Nope, it wasn't her either, and I'd appreciate it, if you don't use that kind of language about others in the cast, got it?" In reality, it was Jeanie who had first told them, but since they had independent verification, Jim wasn't concerned.

Brent tried another tack, "It had to be Penelope, she's the only one that could have heard anything I said to her about sex with her. I didn't say it very loud. I would guess that you don't know about the slut sleeping with me?"

"Last warning about the language, about the others, Brent. Actually, as I told you, she's not the one that reported it first, but thank you for admitting that you did do it…"

"Hey, wait a minute," said Brent, the smirk disappearing, "I didn't say I did it."

A smirk appeared on Jim's face, "you said Penelope is the only one who would have heard you say it, because it was said softly. So, how did you know it was her, how did you know it was said softly and had to do with sex, unless you did it?"

"I…I…I…," stammered Brent.

"So here's what you are going to do," said Jim, leaning forward with a serious look on his face. "You will quit making comments about Penelope, Jeanie, or anyone else for that matter. You have a problem, with another actor, you bring it to us. That includes your little clique, who are being talked to, right now, by Kelli and the head studio executive. They are being reminded that if we hear about any harassment, we can, by contract, request a replacement for their position, for any reason we have, and all they get is two weeks' pay, and not so good comments if another producer asks about them."

"It's the same with you," said Jim. "If we hear about you giving anyone a hard time, or using negative language about other cast memebers, we will get rid of you."

"You can't do that," said Brent, "we have a contract."

"Yes, we do. And, if you look at it," said Jim with an even bigger smirk, "you will see that there is a clause that we can fire anyone, we determine, is causing problems, to maintain good order on the set. Since we decide what good order is, we've now decided that making vulgar or harassing statements to other people, who are with the show, constitutes a problem, that leads to a lack of good order. So you can count this as your notification. You can also imagine our comments when asked about you by other producers."

"You still can't do that," said Brent, the anger rising in him, "you have a four-person cast, how do you get rid of me?"

"I'm glad you asked that," said Jim, sliding a script over to Brent, "The appropriate page is page 11."

Jim waited while Brent looked it up, "You see, no one ever sees the piano that's headed their way. Hunk was walking down one of the streets in NY, and a truck driver loses control, and jumps the curb, running Hunk over. We don't even need you for the episode. As you can see, it's already written, and we can take you out with just a change of script."

"You can't kill me off like that!" said Brent, angrily. "No one's ever kill off a major character like that."

"We can, and will, to maintain good order. While not actually killed off, it was proposed," said Jim with a large smile. "In the sixties, there was a show, set in World War Two, where the actors demanded a large increase in salary. The producers simply wrote several different scripts where one or another of the characters die. People die in war after all, and they showed it to the actors. The actors got the hint, sign the offered contract or the character will be killed off. This is something quite similar, stop the harassment, or your character will die, just walking down the street."

Jim's looked changed to one of loathing, and his voice became cold, "Now, are we clear on not saying anything negative to Penelope or anyone else? This is your warning. You don't give anyone a hard time, and we have no legal reason to get rid of you. But mess up once, and you're gone, and not another producer will be interested, got that?"

Brent was trapped and knew it. If he said one word, he could be out, and basically not work again. _Hell those crew guys could have given me up._ He just nodded and without a word, got up and left the office, slamming the door behind him. Jim just smiled.

 **Kettelle Hall, 8:00 PM Saturday January 5th 2013**

Leonard had just gotten back from dinner, and now he had some things to put away. He had spent the day walking around the college area, and town center in Oxford. He had picked up several personal items, and after finding the Oxford covered market, brought several things to cook his own meals, or for snacks. He had also found several different restaurants including places for Thai, Chinese, Italian and even a McDonalds and a KFC.

While he had mostly wandered around the town to basically get his bearings, he did search for two places. The Eagle and Child pub and across the street from that, the Lamb and Flag. He knew these from the Inklings, a literary group of which J. R. R. Tolkien had been a member. Leonard felt, almost awe, at knowing he was in the same pub, that Tolkien had been in.

He started putting his things away, thinking he would play some video games tonight. He had no plans for tomorrow. He was just going to relax, maybe read, so he would be rested for the upcoming week, when he would be meeting his boss and other faculty members, along with seeing the laser lab.

 **Apt 601, 5:00 PM Sunday January 6th 2013**

Penny and Jeanie had started making dinner, after a busy weekend for both of them. They had moved the rest of Penny's things into Jeanie's apartment on Friday night. Saturday started with them putting everything away and the rest of the day had been spent cleaning Penny's old apartment.

Sunday, they had gone out for brunch, then came back to the apartment, and just kind of laid around. At 4:30, Jeanie got a call, and talked for about 20 minutes. When the call was over, she called Penny to help with dinner. While they were working on dinner, Jeanie spoke up.

"That was Kelli," said Jeanie, "they want me to tell you, that you should have no more problems with either Brent or those friends of his on the crew, making comments."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't get into it, too deeply," said Jeanie, "because I simply don't know. But, Jim and Kelli told me they worked things out, so you shouldn't be bothered anymore. Basically, they got verification of what Brent and the other guys were doing from someone else."

"What they said to Brent and the others I don't know, so I can't tell you. What I can tell you, is that someone you talked to, got in touch with Jim and Kelli, and verified it. Who did you talk to?"

"I don't know," said Penny. "I didn't tell anyone about what was happening, except for you. I knew you'd understand, and believe me, but otherwise it would be him against me, and nothing would get done."

"That's strange," said Jeanie, "they seemed to have someone who talked to them."

Suddenly Penny gasped, "It must have been Les."

"Who?" said Jeanie innocently.

"Les Droste," said Penny, "the A cameraman. I told you about him. He must have overheard Brent, because he came to me and warned me about Brent. How he had done the same thing on another show. Brent asked him to lie about what Brent had said, Les refused, and Brent got him fired."

"He must be the one then," said Jeanie offhandedly. "The big thing, is that you should have no problems with Brent. If you do have a problem, let Kelli or Jim know, they'll take care of it."

"Ok," said Penny. "I have to admit, it's a relief."

"So, break off the tips of those green beans," said Jeanie. "I'll get the chicken breaded and cooked, you can do the potatoes and beans."

Penny started working on the beans, and Jeanie said, "After dinner, we can start working on the scripts for tomorrow."

 **Apt 4A, 7:00 PM Sunday January 6th 2013**

Sheldon was working on a gravitational problem. He had converted a problem in General Relativity, the question of Mercury's precession, into one with his new quantum gravity equations. He had decided to use this, as it was the first problem Einstein solved, when he had finished General Relativity. He had all the numbers, and he was just running them though the equations. It was taking some time, because of how complicated the equations were. He had started just after dinner, when Amy had gone to Howard and Bernadettes. He was now approaching the end of his calculations, and was being very careful now, because he knew the amount of precession, and he didn't want that to influence his work. He cancelled the last two terms, and now had to preform two divisions. He entered the numbers in the calculator, and there, in the display, was 42.9792, very close to the current measured value of 42.9799.

A feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment came over Sheldon. This was the first time, of which Sheldon was aware, that anyone had used a quantum equation, to predict the precession of Mercury. He had done it, no one else. However, he would need to show more than one example was solvable with his equation, and he would have to solve other problems. The big thing was he would have to show how he derived the equations and then write up a paper, including the start of the process, including Leonard's contribution. He was still a couple of years from proving anything, but he was satisfied with the start.

 **Kettell Hall, 9:00 AM Monday January 7th 2013**

Leonard was sitting at his desk, his office door open, when he heard a knock. Looking up, he saw it was Geoff, with another person, who Leonard assumed was another faculty member.

"Hi Leonard," said Geoff. "I'd like you to meet Dr Alain Page, your boss."

Leonard rose, as Dr Page approached. They shook hands, and Dr Page said, "So good to finally meet you Leonard."

"It's so good to finally meet you, Dr Page," said Leonard.

"Ah ah ah," said Alain, raising his forefinger, "Remember, informally, it's Alain. I hope you're ready for a lot of handshaking today. We'll be spending the morning, meeting the physics faculty, then lunch with the physics chair and assistant chair, then I'll take you to the lab, so you can meet all the people that will be working for you."

"I prefer to think of it as working with me," said Leonard. "I plan to…wait, what? I thought I wasn't going to be running the lab?"

Alain chuckled, "Originally, we had planned to have you do tutorials at Trinity, and part of your salary would come from them. Dr Cahill has told us he will be leaving at the end of the semester. So, we decided, after talking with Dr Gablehauser, about your work at Caltech, to make you the head of the lab. We arranged to have him start the semester, with you as his assistant, give you a chance to learn about the lab and he will end the semester as your assistant, with you running the lab. However, with lecturing, and research, and now running the lab, the addition of tutorials would have been too much, so we have removed you from doing the tutorials. You were originally going to be a Research Fellow and Lecturer."

"I thought I was an Associate Professor," said Leonard.

"Oh, you are, that is your Oxford University title," said Alain. "But, for Trinity, you would have been doing tutorials. As a Senior Research Fellow, at Trinity, you don't have to do tutorials, unless it's to fill in for someone who is ill or cannot be there. Do you understand this?"

Leonard nodded his head, "Yes, sir…er…yes Alain, that all makes sense."

"Well, then, let's go meet your new co-workers," said Alain. "After that, Geoff will take you to complete some administrative things, before we go to lunch. Shall we go?"

 **Raj's Apt, 8:30 PM Monday January 7th 2013**

Raj had just gotten home, after stopping by both Howard and Bernadette's place, and Sheldon and Amy's. Howard was in a panic about some change to his PhD. As a result, Raj had left their apartment and went over to Sheldon and Amy's. There he found Sheldon frantically pouring over the equations on his board. His attempts to talk to him, and attempts to talk to Amy, were rebuffed.

He left and was now home. He got a beer, and turned on the television. _What am I going to do? None of my friends have time for me anymore, I can't really meet a woman, so I sit here alone._ Raj shook his head, and started running through the channels, looking for something to watch.

 **Studio 44, 8:30 PM Tuesday January 8th 2013**

Jeanie walked off the set of her apartment on the show, and started toward the stairs to get Penny, as they were now taking the halfway break in the taping of the show. Penny had run into Brent several times yesterday, and she said he had basically ignored her. Penny had said she felt relieved that he wasn't going to be bothering her anymore. As she climbed the stairs, she was thinking, _I wonder if Penny would want to come to Jake's tonight? I can make sure she doesn't drink, get her a soda._ Arriving at her door, she knocked, and was surprised to see what appeared to be Penny crying.

"What's wrong, Penny," said Jeanie, sounding concerned.

Penny led her into her dressing room, and pointed at the open script on her table. Picking it up, she saw it was next weeks script, and a list of the guest stars with a short synopsis of their characters. She started reading and the third one down said, "Dr Lawernce Fine - A physicist from Princeton, who is an expert in Lasers."

Jeanie looked up and saw the tears in Penny's eyes, "Oh, Penny, I'm so sorry."

Her lower lip was trembling as Penny said, "Jeanie, I think I should see your psychologist."

 **Rm** **308 Lindemann Building** **, 1:15 PM Wednesday January 9th 2013**

Leonard was sitting at his desk, in his office, going through a text book. He was working on preparing the syllabus for the 'Introduction to Lasers' class. He would be working on the other class, 'Lasers and Modern Optics', either later today, or tomorrow. The first two days had been something of a whirlwind for him. Meeting all the faculty, getting his class assignments, learning where everything was located, was almost overwhelming. He had known where everything was at CalTech, now he might have to ask. It wasn't bad when he was asking faculty, but next week, it may be, embarrassingly, a student.

He had spent most of Tuesday in the laser lab, getting to know everyone, and had invited everyone to a local pub, 'The Kings Arms', after work. He had bought the first round, and most everyone stayed for a couple of hours getting to know their new boss. Tomorrow, he would be taking the required laser safety class, and then on Friday, a look at the equipment he would be overseeing. He was hoping to get the syllabus done by noon and the other things done by 5 PM, so he could then spend the weekend preparing his lectures for the first two weeks of classes, and refine them the beginning of next week. He was going to be busy, but he didn't care, it was just what he needed, to keep his mind off of thinking of Penny.


	86. Chapter 85

**A/N Well, here it is, the last full chapter. The epilogue (and a long author's note), will be out next Sunday. Next week's installment is about half the length of a regular chapter, and then the story (well, this part of the story) will be over. I want to warn everyone to take Penny and Jeanie's discussion of Penny's psychology appointment, in this chapter, with a grain of salt. An actual psychologist, who looked it over, pointed out some errors. I've made changes to try to remove most of them, but I know there are still a couple in there (basically they would not discuss some things this soon in therapy), because I left them in, for story purposes.**

 **Chapter 85**

 **Apt 601, 5:30 PM Wednesday January 9th 2013**

Jeanie was going over her script, waiting for Penny to come back from her appointment with a psychologist from the office where Jeanie went. Jeanie had called her therapist at 8 AM, and arranged for the appointment to be for 90 minutes, starting at 3:30. She had found out her psychologist couldn't, ethically, take Penny as a patient, knowing she was a friend of Jeanie's. She expected Penny home any time now.

Two pages later, the door opened and Penny came in. Jeanie could see that her eyes were red, _she must have been crying during the session._ Jeanie didn't say anything, but Penny said, "Let me get my coat off, hit the bathroom and I'll be right out."

"How about I order some Indian for delivery tonight?" said Jeanie. "It'll take about a half hour." Penny nodded.

Jeanie called their order in, while Penny went to the bathroom. A few minutes later, Penny came out, got a glass of tea, and then sat down with Jeanie.

"So, who's your doctor," asked Jeanie, "and how did it go?"

"Dr Diane Werve and it was rough," admitted Penny. "I spent a lot of time crying, explaining what had happened over the last couple of months. She was very understanding, but she didn't say much. I was kinda embarrassed on how much I cried and how I couldn't finish a couple of sentences, because I was crying. One thing, she kept asking why I thought I was to blame for all of it. I mean it's obvious it's my fault, right? I guess the two biggest things would be dealing with the rape, and getting my drinking under control. They put me with her because she has experience with sexual victims and alcohol abuse issues."

"What," said Jeanie, "did you talk to her about your drinking?"

"Yes, I did," said Penny. "We talked about how much and when I drink, and also spoke about the times I don't drink. She was questioning me on the reasons I drank so much. She said we could work on cutting back on the drinking. I told her I think drinking is how I handle stress or get through my problems. See, if I'm not struggling with something, I don't drink all that much. For example, when I first went out with Leonard, I didn't drink a lot. After I broke up with him, and especially after he started dating the Indian woman, I would drink a lot, 'cause I didn't want to think about us not being together, and I didn't know how to handle it."

"Then," Penny continued, "after we got back together, my drinking went way down. Oh, there would be occasional nights when the girls and I might have one or two too many, but it wasn't all the time, like it had been. Diane thinks if she gives me some healthier coping mechanisms, it should help. Give me some tools to deal with the stresses in my life and the drinking should drop off. Like it did when I got back together with Leonard."

"What about the rape?" asked Jeanie.

Penny sounded choked up a bit, "That one could be a bit tricky and take a while." Penny paused and sighed, "She said knowing I was raped will keep coming back to me. But, because I can't remember the details, it could come back at odd times. Something might happen and my brain will make the connection, even if my conscious doesn't, and it might overwhelm me. She wants to get to it next week, because therapy could help me handle that. She warned me it could be difficult, and could go on for years, so I should be prepared."

"What else did you talk about?"

"We talked about my breaking up with Leonard," said Penny. "About why I broke up with him, and the way I did it. I don't know why she kept asking me why I felt I was a slut, bitch, or any of the other things I called myself. I mean, come on, it's obvious because that's what I am"

Jeanie didn't say anything, just stared at her.

Penny shrugged, "She asked me about how it all happened and I told her, and then she asked why I didn't talk to him and also about my fight with Amy and Bernadette. I couldn't give her an answer that made sense, she probably thinks I'm such a stupid bitch."

"Did she say that, or give you some kind of look that made you think that?"

"No, she didn't," said Penny, "but it's obvious, isn't it?"

Jeanie didn't say anything, and just looked away.

"Isn't it?"

Jeanie looked at Penny, and changed the subject, "Maybe you should try to talk to them again."

"No, I did call once, and left Bernadette a message," said Penny sadly. "But she didn't call back. It's probably just better for now to forget about it, until I get the help from Diane. Related to that, I told her about how lonely I was, and how difficult it was to find friends or even just people to go out with. She told me that could be something we could work on during regular therapy."

"Was there anything else?"

"Yeah, I told her I wanted…" The doorbell rang, cutting Penny off.

Jeanie got up to get her purse, and said, "Go ahead."

"I want to change the appointment to Wednesday's at 8:30," said Penny. "That's before we have to be in, and if I have to do something, with the show, on Wednesday afternoons, I won't have to cancel. She couldn't do that for next week, so next week it's at 1:30 PM."

"Makes sense," said Jeanie. She opened the door, and paid for the food. She tipped the boy, closed the door and walked toward the table. "You hungry?" asked Jeanie, putting the food on the table.

"Starved," admitted Penny.

"Well, let me get some plates and utensils and we can start eating. What do you want to do tonight?"

"Watch a few movies?"

"OK," said Jeanie, with a grin, "but I bought, so you do dishes before we watch."

 **Rm** **308 Lindemann Building** **5:30 PM Friday January 11th 2013**

Leonard was running a bit late, he had walked through the laser lab, learning about the different equipment that would be his responsibility. He had made notes and was almost done writing his second week of lectures. He wanted to finish these, then go back to his rooms. He had a 7 PM dinner booked, and would have to make a slight change of clothing, as it was a formal hall tonight. Suddenly, his phone rang. Puzzled, he answered it with "Physics Department, Dr Hofstadter."

He heard a familiar voice, "Leonard, is that you?"

"Sheldon?" asked Leonard incredulously, "Why are you calling?"

He heard Sheldon sigh, "With those kind of manners, I'm surprised you haven't been banished from England before this."

 _Sheldon being Sheldon_ , thought Leonard, "I'm sorry, it is good to hear you, I was just surprised, that's all. So why are you calling?"

"I have some news for you," said Sheldon, "and I need some advice."

"Ok, so what's the news?" asked Leonard.

"Remember how I told you, I had thought of a way to use the reflections as answers to Quantum Gravity, then try to back engineer it?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I just solved my first problem using quantum equations," said Sheldon, "and I thought I'd let you know. It was the precession of Mercury."

"So you have a viable theory?" asked Leonard excitedly.

"Not yet," said Sheldon, "I have solved a problem with equations I've found through trial and error. Basically, it's a modified De Witt-Wheeler equation. However, until I can derive the equations themselves, instead of making ad hoc corrections or changes, it's not really solved."

"It sounds as if you are on the right path, though, buddy."

"I may be, but there is still a lot of work left," said Sheldon.

"Well, I'm glad it's going well, and I hope you get it figured out" said Leonard. "I kinda miss you, Sheldon."

"Of course you do," said Sheldon.

Leonard sighed and chuckled, _same old Sheldon_ , "So what kind of advice do you need?"

"Ummmmmmmmmmm," said Sheldon.

 **Studio 44, 3:30 PM Friday January 11th 2013**

Penny was struggling, and had been struggling, every time she had to do a scene with the guest star, especially after they added the white board. The first time she had seen that, this morning, she burst into tears. When it came time to run the two scenes, she would start choking up. She was finally able to get through each scene, after a couple of tries, but hearing all the Physics terms, had brought back the memories of hearing Leonard, and it caused her problems, trying to get her lines out.

Jeanie knew what was going on, and she tried to talk Penny through it each day. It seemed to get better through the week, but, this afternoon, with the white board, Penny was flubbing her lines, again. Steve had called for a break, and afterward, Penny finally got through them. Penny was thinking of asking the psychologist, Diane, about it, so it wouldn't happen on taping day, but her appointment wasn't until next week. She would have to get through Monday, and the taping, on her own. She sighed, and started back to her dressing room, They were done for the week. Her and Jeanie were planning a quiet weekend watching TV and studying their scripts.

 **Raj's Apartment, 8:30 AM Sunday January 13th 2013**

Raj was having his coffee, thinking about the weekend. He had tried to stop by both Sheldon's and Howard's again on Friday, and neither one was home. On Saturday, he called and while Bernadette was home, Howard wasn't and Sheldon, when he finally answered his cell, was in Anaheim, on the way back home, after checking out a new train store. He had tried going out to several places on Friday and Saturday night, with no luck with women, or finding some new friends.

He was tired of being alone. He had tried for the last several weeks to get involved with either of the couples, but they had been so busy. His attempts at striking out on his own, were not much better. He finally decided to call his parents. He dialed and waited, and the image of his mother and father came up on the screen. "Hello Mummy, hello Daddy."

"Rajesh, it's so good to hear from you," said his father.

"You haven't called us in weeks, has that little Jewish boy been keeping you busy?" asked his mother.

"No, no," said Raj, "he's been too busy for us to get together."

"What about your other friends?" asked his mother.

"Leonard and Penny are no longer here," said Raj. "The others are too busy also, so I've been very lonely."

"So, you called us so you can complain?" asked his father.

"Actually, I want to know if you can find someone, so I can do an arranged marriage?"

"What?" said both his parents together.

"I would like you to arrange a marriage for me."

"It may be difficult with you in California," said his father.

Raj knew that might be a problem, as previous attempts in California, had ended in failures. But, as much as he would miss California, he wouldn't miss it enough to stay there, and be lonely. "No, Daddy, if you can arrange a marriage, with someone from India, I would come home."

"You're sure about this?" asked his father. "You're not going to change your mind after we find someone?"

"No, Daddy," said Raj, "I'm making a commitment to come home and marry, when you find someone for me."

"Do you still have trouble talking to women?"

"Yes Daddy, I do."

"Well, I heard about a doctor here, who had cured several other people with the same affliction. When I arrange the marriage, do you want me to contact him also?"

Raj thought about it for a minute, "Yes Daddy, once I come home, I'll talk to him."

"Then I will start on that tomorrow," said his father. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Yes, an advance on my allowance," said Raj, "I over spent on me Peng… food again this week."

"I'll put money in the account," his father said, "but try to limit that. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Rajesh," said his mother.

"Goodbye, Mummy, goodbye Daddy," said Raj. He disconnected and looked around. He would miss this place, but he didn't know how long it would take for his parents to find someone. He could still be here for a couple of years.

 **Apartment 4A, 8:30 PM Sunday January 13th 2013**

Sheldon had been nervous all day. He knew he was going to have to talk to Amy, but he'd didn't know quite how to start the conversation. Finally, he said, "Amy, may I ask you something?"

"What Sheldon?"

"As you know," he started, "you moved in when Leonard left, and we were supposed to have a five month experiment."

"What do you mean, supposed to have?" ask Amy, suspiciously.

"Well, that's what we agreed to," said Sheldon. "However, we've both been here for about a month and I think it's time we look at whether it needs to go the whole five months."

Amy had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she thought she knew where this was going, "So you don't think it needs to go five months?"

"No, I don't," said Sheldon. "I would like to make the cohabitation part of the relationship agreement, permanent, with your permission."

Amy's mood swung 180 degrees and she yelled, "You shut your ass!"

Sheldon looked puzzled, "My ass is shut, Amy, I've already had my bowel movement today."

"I'm sorry, Sheldon," said Amy, "it's an expression, I was just surprised. Go ahead, continue."

"Well, I was surprised myself," said Sheldon. "I realized I was happy with it and you seemed to be happy with it. But, I wasn't sure, so I called Leonard and asked him."

"You called Leonard?" said Amy in amazement.

"Yes, I thought he might be able to help me," said Sheldon. "He may not be able to handle his own problems with women, but he does have experience I lack."

"Well, I'll say you have my permission," said Amy with an enormous grin.

"I want you to know," said Sheldon seriously, "that the new arrangement does not include coitus, nor is this an offer of engagement."

"I would not expect that," said Amy, thinking, _the longer we are close, like this, the sooner coitus will happen._ "You have my permission, when can you start on the new agreements?"

"I'll start the new roommate and relationship agreement, right away," said Sheldon excitedly.

 **Wolowitz Apt 10:30 PM Sunday January 13th 2013**

"Howie, come to bed," said Bernadette, "you have a busy day tomorrow."

"I know," said Howard, sounding frustrated, and continuing to pace, "but having to make those changes to my PhD program, moving from Mechanical, to a Mechanical and Software engineering program is making me wonder if I can do it."

"Howie," said Bernadette patiently, "you built those things for the space station, and you programed them, so you've done all this before."

"I know, but what if I can't do this?" said Howard. "This is a whole new thing for me, this isn't astronautical engineering, I'll have to follow certain rules and…"

"Howie," said Bernadette, "is the change from mechanical to mechanical and software going to change anything you do, for this project?"

Howard stopped pacing, "Well, no, it will be the same, why?"

"Howie, if it's the same, and you could do it before, you won't have a problem, now."

"How do you know?" asked Howard.

"Well, you are no good with anything physical," started Bernadette, "and you made it through survival training at NASA."

Howard straightened up and nodded, "What else?"

"You were terrible with women, and I still married you."

Howard smiled, and climbed into bed, "Yes, yes you did."

"Putting those two together," said Bernadette with a sly smile, "you are no good with anything physical, and you were terrible with women." Her normally squeaky voice dropped lower as she said seductively, "But, you're one hell of a fuck."

Howard smirked, "How about I stop worrying about it, and take you to bed."

Bernadette got a huge grin, "I was hoping you'd say that," as she leaned over and kissed him.

 **Studio 44 2:30 PM Monday January 14th 2013**

Penny had only gotten through the morning run-throughs, by burying her emotions today. She had realized, yesterday, that her audition for the show had been a year ago. All of the last few months were due to that, and it almost overwhelmed her. She had even maintained her composure when the actor asked her if she had a problem with him, because of her reactions around him, all week.

Penny assured him that while there was a problem, it had nothing to do with him. She explained his character reminded her of a bad time in her life, so he shouldn't worry about it. Penny and Jeanie were now waiting for him to finish his scene with Brent, before they would have their final pre-shot scene with him. Brent had spent most of the week avoiding the two of them, but he had no choice now, as he had to walk right by them. He had an angry look on his face as he passed by them, Jeanie just stared at him, angrily, but Penny's eye's started filling with tears. A few seconds later, the actor playing the physicist walked up.

Looking at them, he noticed their faces and said, "Was it something I did?"

They both shook their heads, before reassuring him, it had nothing to do with him.

 **Rm** **308 Lindemann Building** **, 4:30 PM Tuesday January 15th 2013**

Leonard had been trying to go over his first lecture for tomorrow, for two days, but he kept thinking about Penny. It had been a year before, on Sunday, that Penny had had her audition for her show, which had led to him being here. His mind kept drifting back to last year, when he heard a knock on the door, and when he looked up, he saw Dr Page. He stammered for a moment, before rising and saying, "Come in, Dr Page."

Dr Page closed the door, walked over to the chair Leonard indicated, and sat down. "How can I help you, Dr Page?"

"The door is closed, Leonard," said Alain, "please, call me Alain. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were adjusting to the UK, and to Oxford."

"Well, here at the university, I think I'm doing fine," said Leonard, "I've settled into my rooms, I've been working on the lectures, and I've got four weeks worth done. I've been meeting with the people at the lab, learning about the procedures and I think things are going well. Nobody's complained about me yet," he chuckled, "at least that I know of."

"Very good," said Alain. "That is something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Is there something wrong?" asked Leonard, concerned. "Someone complained to you, about me."

"No, no, no," said Alain, "nothing at all. The group at the lab are quite happy with you so far. I've looked over your syllabi, and I like the small changes you introduced. And I like your lectures, thanks for sending them over, as I asked. As someone new, I hope you understand why I wanted to look over everything, but please know, that we are very happy you decided to come to Oxford."

Leonard looked sheepish as he said, "I'm just trying to do the best I can."

"Well, keep it up," said Alain, as he rose. "I know you have your first lecture tomorrow, so good luck."

"Thank you, Alain," said Leonard.

Alain walked to the door and turned, "I like to keep abreast of how my professors are doing, so I like to talk to them each week, but you won't have to send your material over anymore." He smiled and shook Leonard's hand, "Have a good week."

"You too, Alain," said Leonard.

Alain nodded, walked to the door and left.

Leonard looked after him, and decided it was time for him to leave, also. He would try to finish looking over the lecture tonight, if he could keep his mind off of Penny.

 **Studio 44 Noon Tuesday January 15th 2013**

Penny was in her dressing room, the morning run-through was finished. They would do another run-through around 2 PM, then they would have a break until it was time for hair and makeup. Penny had gotten through the morning scenes with the physicist, without breaking up, so she was hopeful she would be able to do the same this afternoon, and tonight's taping.

The actor had come to her and Jeanie after the morning run-through, he was still concerned that he was doing something wrong, because of their reactions to both assured him, it had nothing to do with him and that he was doing a fine job. The actor thanked them and went back to his dressing room.

There was a knock at Penny's door and on answering it, she found Jeanie.

Jeanie said, "We're going to Jake's tonight, and I'm not taking no for an answer. Just remember, though, no drinking for you, or me."

Penny smiled and nodded, and Jeanie left. _I'll study the script for another hour, then go get lunch, t_ hought Penny as she walked back to her couch, and her script.


	87. Epilogue

**A/N Well, here's the last of Broken Threads. It's a Day early, but I'll be busy tomorrow, and if I don't put it out today, it wouldn't have been out until Monday. The big note is at the end of the epilogue, but I want to thank TBBT78 and bfm10, upfront, for all their help and excellent suggestions. They both stuck with me right to the end, and without them, I wouldn't have come close to finishing. Thanks, so much, to both of you. Also, a shout out to Hokie3457 for his help at the beginning of this project.**

 **Finally, note the change in how the headings are written in each of the final sections. The main heading gives the time in each place, then another heading, giving the locations. The reason for this is that the actions, throughout the epilogue, are happening in the UK, and in NY, basically simultaneously. In the final section, the actions are intertwined.**

 **Epilogue**

 **9:45 PM, Oxford and 4:45 PM NY Tuesday January 15th 2013**

 **Kettell Hall**

Leonard was in his bathroom, brushing his teeth, and preparing for bed. He had had dinner in the dining hall, came back to his room and finally finished editing his Lecture. His lecture would be at 8:05, the next morning, and he figured to get to his office just before 7:30 and then go to the lecture hall, and run over his lecture. He walked to his bed, and then set the alarm on his phone. He got into bed, turned off the light, and rolled over, trying to not think of Penny, while waiting for sleep to overtake him.

 **Studio 44**

Penny was in her dressing room bathroom, brushing her teeth, preparing to walk down to the hair and makeup room. They would started the process at 5 PM, and were usually finished by 5:45 PM. They would then do a speed through the script, trying to get the words out as fast as possible. They would then have a half hour, to themselves before they would get together, to be introduced before starting the taping. They would not get a script tonight, as they were off for two weeks. Jeanie and Penny were going to Boston for a few days, after Penny's psychologist appointment in the early afternoon. She was hopeful that going to Jake's tonight, would keep her mind off of Leonard. She walked to the make-up room, greeting the make-up team.

 **6:30 AM Oxford and 1:30 AM NY, Wednesday January 16th 2013**

 **Kettell Hall**

Leonard's alarm went off, he shut it off and got up. Walking out to the kitchen, he turned his coffee pot on, and went to his bathroom. He was going to get his shower, get some coffee, and then get dressed. He would then head over to the dinning hall for some breakfast, before walking to the Lindemann Building. He would then go to his office on the third floor, unload the things he didn't need, before walking to the lecture hall, on the first floor.

 **Jake's**

Jeanie and Penny left Jake's, and were now standing outside, talking with Kelli and Jim. They said their goodbyes, and started walking home. After getting there, they took off their coats, unpacked their bags and put their things on the table. They sat up and talked for a bit, before Jeanie decided to turn in around 2 AM, while Penny decided to stay up for a bit longer. She had had nothing alcoholic to drink and although she had hid it today, she was still bothered by the memories and feelings, the thoughts of her audition had brought up.

 **7:30 AM Oxford and 2:30 AM NY Wednesday January 16th 2013**

 **Kettell Hall**

Leonard had just arrived at the Lindemann Lecture Hall. It was a half hour before his lecture was to start, and he was still angry with himself. While getting dressed this morning, he found he had to move the blue blanket, with the sleeves, out of the way in his wardrobe, to get to his suit. That caused him to start thinking of Penny again, and her audition, and how he missed her. This was not something he had wanted to come up, just before his first lecture, but he couldn't shake the thoughts of her through breakfast, nor on his walk to his office. He laid out the papers containing the syllabus on a table near the small desk, before sitting at the desk. He wasn't really paying attention to the hall starting to fill up with the students he would be lecturing. The only thing on his mind was Penny.

 **Apt 601**

Penny hadn't talked to Leonard since before Thanksgiving, but now, laying in bed, the thoughts of the audition, had made him the only thing she was thinking of. She finally decided she wasn't going to get to sleep and grabbed her iPad, and did a google search on Leonard. After a while, she hadn't found anything current. All of the references to his work and his office and email address were showing Caltech. She was puzzled by this, knowing he had gone to Oxford. After another fifteen minutes or so, she thought of looking at Oxford, so she typed in his name and Oxford, then clicked on the find icon.

 **Lindemann Lecture Hall 8:00 AM and Apt 601 3 AM Wednesday January 16th 2013**

It was five minutes before he would start lecturing, but Leonard was still thinking about Penny. He walked up to the lectern, and looked out over the students.

Penny had found the classes that Leonard would be teaching at Oxford, and saw he would be teaching one this morning, starting shortly, if she had her time zones right. She had also found his email address, but realized, she couldn't bring herself to do anything with it. With nothing else to do, she turned off her iPad, and rolled over in her bed, to turn off her light.

Meanwhile, over 3000 miles away, Leonard held up his hand for quiet. As the students quieted down, Leonard was thinking, _I've got to quit thinking about Penny. I'm never going to see her again, it's better to keep her as a memory, not dwell on her, and move on with my life, Goodbye Penny, I will always love you._

As she reached for the light, she saw the snowflake on her nightstand. Tears started forming, as she reached out to hold it and thought, _He's gone, it's my fault, and I'm never going to see him again. I'll keep this as a memory, but it's better for me to just forget him, and move on with my life. Diane said she could help me with that. Goodbye, Leonard, I will never stop loving you._ She kissed the snowflake, then put it back on the table and turned off the light. She closed her eyes, and tried to get her mind to let go of Leonard, as she drifted off to sleep.

He looked at the now quiet students, the students who represented a new chapter in his life. Looking at them, he pushed thoughts of Penny out of his mind, by concentrating on his lecture notes, and then said, "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, my name is Dr Leonard Hofstadter, I'll be lecturing you this morning on basic laser theory."

 **Fin**

 **A/N Now, before I get into everything else, the first thing I want to do is thank everyone who has arrived at this point. Thank you so very much for reading, and thank you to those who have reviewed. Second, the name of the story that this prequel is based on, for those who still don't know, is** _ **Elliptical Threads (ET)**_ **and it was written by Slightly Off Key (SOK).**

 **That story starts, about 12 years after the end of this one, in 2024. So, if you want to find out what has happened to Leonard, Penny and the rest of the gang, along with what they were up to, in the 12 years between this ending, and that beginning, you should go check it out, especially if you are a Lenny fan. It's a much happier story, and it will also help you understand where some of this story came from and should give you some insight as to why I made some of the choices I made, within this story. It was that story that got me interested in reading and then writing fan fiction.**

 **You can find ET here on Fanfiction, (just search for Elliptical Threads) however, that is basically the first draft of the story (SOK wrote about 2500 words a night, almost every night until Part 1 was done, something I didn't even pretend to attempt to do). The cleaned up version, which is much more consistent with names, times, events (and reads much better, IMO) can be found at the following link:**

 **(Ellipticalthreads).com(/)(chapterlink) Just take out the** **parenthesis, and put it in your address bar. Or do a google search for ellipticalthreads which a "slash"chapterlink. FF kept deleting the actual address so I had to resort to this.**

 **If you have a question as to how I linked the two stories, or why I did some things the way I did, drop me a PM and I'll do what I can to help you.**

 **At the end of the story, SOK mentioned that if anyone wants to add on to it, they are free to do so. But, it took me three years before I started writing this one. I spent much of that three years putting things together, writing the outline, finding key points, etc. I wanted to tackle their breakup, because I don't normally do angst, and because I love Leonard and Penny and wanted to make sure their love for each other was represented even with what had happened.(although, some reviewers think Penny didn't really love Leonard and was selfishly just trying to cover herself). I can see why some might think that, but, in my thoughts (and explained in ET), it was simply the guilt and shame Penny experienced, about what had happened, which were a new experience for her, and she simply couldn't, or didn't know how to, deal with it. Her self-loathing and low self esteem, at what had happened, made her think she didn't deserve Leonard.**

 **Again, thank you all for reading, I have some ideas for more stories, and I have started writing a story about the early parts of the Lenny pregnancy (working on chapter 6, right now) and have an idea for a different story on how, exactly, Penny thanks Leonard for the car he gave her back in season 7. It will probably be my first attempt at M rated sexual goings on.** **With the end of the show though, I'm just not sure how many are going to continue to read Big Bang fan fic, so we'll see. I was quite happy with the number of people reading this one, on a consistent basis, and the number even increased as the story went on, even though fewer than one in forty reviewed. On the bright side, for me, I've started writing original material (working on a play, and a short story, we'll see if I can finish them), so I will continue writing, in some form or another, although maybe not here. Again, thank you all who read, and a special thanks to those who reviewed.**


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